


From Friendship to Forever

by Forever_Without_Him



Category: PLL - Fandom, Pretty Little Liars, emison
Genre: ALL the Emison, Emison - Freeform, F/F, Family, Friendship, Love, Some angst, fetus Emison, married Emison
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-08-28 23:20:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16732581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forever_Without_Him/pseuds/Forever_Without_Him
Summary: A collection of one-shots spanning through the years following Emily Fields and Alison DiLaurentis. Fetus Emison and Domestic Family Emison. Some love. Some pain. And of course, appearances by the other Liars, because they're fam.





	1. Jealousy

**A/N:** _S’up PLL fam? I somehow got roped into doing PLL prompts on tumblr, Emison more specifically. I don’t actively seek them out, but I do occasionally get an ask that has a prompt that I feel like doing. I’m trying to get my ass organized and to get them all together here. These little drabbles will be highly different than my stories “Matters of the Heart” and “Still Waters Run Deep”. For one thing they aren’t the length of a Shakespearean novel. And for another thing they aren’t all connected._

_As with everything I write, I have a hard time with my inner critic when I do prompts because I’m more acclimated to plotting out full stories with arcs and all that jazz, so when I do prompts I always look at it with that critical eye thinking that it looks incohesive and disjointed. Hopefully that’s not the case. Hopefully my angsty inner self is just a judgemental ho. Regardless, the prompts are all going to make their big movie debut here on fanfic. Enjoy._

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 ** Prompt ** **: Always wanted a fetus emison flashback scene where a guy asked Emily out and Alison came and took Emily’s hand and they walked away.**

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**_ Jealousy _ **

Alison watched from across the courtyard. She couldn’t hear what was being said, but she didn’t like the fact that Ben Coogan was talking to Emily Fields.

 _Her_ Emily. _Her_ Mermaid.

It wasn’t uncommon for them to chat after swim practice, but something about Ben seemed different today. He had a certain cockiness in his strut that Alison didn’t like.

They walked a little closer and Alison tried to pretend to be invested in writing in her diary. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Emily wrap her arms around herself. It was a telltale sign that she was uncomfortable. She’d had that nervous habit since she was a kid. It made Alison want to reach out and hug her.

Emily had always been the most shy of Alison’s friends. And Alison was the only one who knew why. It had nothing to do with being raised in a strict military household. It was because she was hiding. Hiding from herself, from who she really was. Emily wasn’t like the others. She was special. In more ways than one.

Alison had a fondness for her she didn’t quite understand. She was, after all, Alison DiLaurentis...and she was fabulous. She didn’t need validation from others. But for some reason she yearned for Emily’s approval.

She didn’t like it when other people got too close to her. She felt overprotective of her. Subconsciously, she knew the reason. But she would never admit it. She couldn’t. But she knew it.

Ben was standing way too close to her kind brunette. And Alison had to fight her urge to kick a chair out in his path and watch him face-plant over it.

“So, Em, I was wondering something,” Ben said as they slowed down, nearing where Alison was seated.

 _Don’t_. Alison growled in thought. _Don’t you dare. She’s too good for you._

He tried to be coy and cute, pretending to be nervous as he ran his fingers through his damp hair. Alison wasn’t naive enough to fall for that act. But Emily was trusting. Emily saw the good in everyone. She couldn’t see what Ben was really doing, what he was really after. That boy wanted one thing, and one thing only. And Alison could see it written all over his face.

“We’ve been swimming together for years now…”

_She’s much better than you._

In every way.

“…and I was thinking…maybe one night we should get together and you know…”

_If you even THINK about touching her I will destroy you._

“…hang out.”

Alison knew EXACTLY what “hang out” meant to teenage boys like Ben. Get a girl drunk and then get handsy with her. She was not about to let that happen to her sweet Emily.

“Oh.” Emily seemed surprised.

Alison saw her cheeks redden. She was so damn adorable when she was flustered. She was like a cute little puppy. And Alison was not going to let some sicko abuse her.

_Tell him to get lost, Emily. Tell him that you’re a queen and he’s nothing more than a warty little frog._

“That’s…um…I uh…” Emily was obviously flattered, but she didn’t know how to turn him down.

Of course she didn’t. She was Emily Fields. She was too nice. Alison couldn’t watch her stutter any longer. She pushed herself up and looked over at them for the first time, her eyes immediately locking on Ben’s.

 _Back off, creep._ She thought to herself.

“Em, hey.” Alison closed the distance between them.

“Alison?” Emily still seemed flustered.

“Sweetie, where have you been? I’ve been waiting for you.” She strolled right next to Emily and casually grabbed her hand, earning a scowl from Ben. “Didn’t you get my text?”

“Um…no. I just got out of practice.”

Alison could tell. Her hair still smelled like chlorine. And she was still glistening from the water.

“What are you doing here?” Emily looked down at their joined hands, confused by the motion. Confused by Alison’s presence. Just…confused.

“I thought we could go check out the new boutique sale. What do you say? Are you up for it?”

“We were kind of in the middle of something here.” Ben sneered.

“Don’t be selfish, _Ben_.” She made sure the inflection in his name came across in a very ‘I will kick you in the crotch’ kind of way. “You’ve had Emily to yourself all afternoon. I just want to spend a little quality time with my best friend here.”

“Best…” Emily shook her head, completely tongue-tied. She had no idea what was going on.

“I had this whole afternoon planned. It was all in my text.” She lied, getting ready to fake a pout.

Emily nodded and smiled sweetly at her. That smile. Alison adored that smile. It could cure anything in her life that was wrong.

“Of course.” Emily nodded. Alison knew she wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to hang out with her. “Sorry, Ben. Maybe we can talk another time.”

 _Or never._ Alison thought to herself.

“I’ll catch you at swim practice?” Emily asked.

“Yeah, sure.” Ben nodded, walking away, but not before stealing one last angry glare at the blonde who had caused a foul in his play.

“I hope he’s not too mad.” Emily bit her lip.

“Oh, you care too much.” Alison scoffed. It was actually one of the things she loved about her.

“So…” Emily looked at Alison, shifting shyly on her feet. “…uh…you’re holding my hand.”

“Yeah, so?” She wasn’t ready to let her go.

“No, it’s fine.” Emily looked at her through a furrowed brow. “It’s just…” She stared at her, Alison staring back, trying very hard not to get lost in her soft sienna eyes. “Alison, are you okay?”

“Of course.” Alison nodded. “You just looked like you could use a lifeline.”

Emily nodded in agreement.

“He caught me off-guard. I like Ben,” she said. “But I don’t _like_ him like him.”

_He’s not your type, sweetie. Why can’t you just admit it?_

“There are plenty of fish in the sea. And you’re not going to find anything worthy in Rosewood’s pool.” Alison laughed. “So, are you up for shopping and dinner?”

“Oh, you were being serious about that? It wasn’t just an excuse for me to get away from Ben?”

“Of course I was being serious.” Alison nodded, almost a little insulted that Emily didn’t think she wanted to spend time with her.

“What did you have in mind?”

“Well, I was thinking Rive Gauche after our shopping spree. And then maybe we can take a walk or something afterwards. It’s supposed to be a really nice night.”

Alison had an idea in mind of where she wanted to take Emily after dinner. She’d often talked to her about ‘The Kissing Rock’, a spot out in the woods near a lake where teenagers went to make out. Emily had scoffed when Alison told the story about how when couples went out to the rock they felt the ghosts of the previous people who had visited encouraging them to kiss. But she’d looked a little intrigued by the idea. Alison hadn’t been able to get her mind off of that rock since that day.

“Yeah, that would be cool.” Emily looked excited.

“Great.” Alison chirped bubbly. “Let’s make a night out of it then.” She started walking forward.

“Alison,” Emily said, calling for her attention. “You’re _still_ holding my hand.” She looked down at their interlaced fingers.

Alison’s face softened and she smiled at Emily. All Emily could do was smile back.

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 **A/N:** _I’ve got a few more prompts to move over here from tumblr, mostly domestic family Emison (which is a popular request). I do have a couple of asks on tumblr that I’m mulling over right now as well. I’ll update as I go along._


	2. Family

** Prompt: ** **Can you write a tiny little prompt of the twins meeting the baby boy? Like Emily taking the twins to the hospital to meet the baby? And they go in and Alison is in the bed with the baby and they’re excited but nervous at the same time?**

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**_ Family _ **

The silence in the hospital room was a stark contrast to what it had been just hours ago. Alison’s screams and colorful language could be heard all the way down the hall. At one point she’d looked up at Emily, her face a dark crimson color and drenched in sweat. She’d cried and told her she couldn’t do it. The twins hadn’t been half as hard and this birth was only _one_ baby. But their son was breech and it was so much more painful than her first delivery.

Emily had leaned in to her face as close as she could and placed a firm kiss against her head and told her she could do it. The doctors were optimistic and encouraging, noting that medical knowledge had really come a long way when it came to breech births. Many women delivered breech babies that weren’t in distress without a C-section thanks to advanced medical research. They were slowly, but surely helping the baby boy turn as he came out.

Alison had screamed and cried and cussed and squeezed Emily’s hand so hard that her nails drew blood. But Emily was more focused on Alison. She wiped her sweat covered hair out of her face and told her she was doing great. She watched in awe as the doctors worked down between Alison’s legs to ensure that their son came out okay.

It had been the most agonizing experience of Alison’s life, but when she heard the doctor proclaim he was out followed by the broken cries of her baby she’d broken down and cried in both joy and exhaustion. And when she’d felt his little body flush against her chest she thought her heart was going to burn her from the inside with the sheer amount of love she felt.

Emily and Alison had taken turns passing him back and forth and ogling their tiny little boy. He was only six pounds four ounces, but because he’d come out ass backwards he felt like he’d been sixteen pounds.

When Emily went out to the waiting room to get their twelve-year-old daughters Alison was left alone with her son for the first time. She marveled at his perfection. His tiny little button nose. His little wiggling fingers. His eyes. His beautiful big eyes. Staring into his eyes was like looking into a beautiful new universe. All of the pain had been worth it. Her son was worth it.

She heard rustling and she looked up and saw two shadows being cast through the doorway. She looked up and saw her twins, Grace and Lily standing in the hallway, awkwardly dancing between walking into the room and staying out in the hall. Emily was right behind them.

They peered at their mom and their new baby brother nervously, neither one stepping forward. Lily rocked on her feet. Grace looked into the hospital room like if she walked in it was going to transport her to an entirely new world.

“Go ahead, girls.” Emily encouraged them.

Lily was the first one to step forward. Alison smiled at her firstborn daughter. Lily had always been an eager little girl. She had the drive to be first at everything she did.

Grace followed, quickly catching up to her sister and pushing to bypass her. Their second born was fearless and feisty. She ended up by Alison’s side first. Lily walked up next to her sister. Emily walked over to the opposite side of the bed and took Alison’s free hand in hers.

The girls looked at the baby. Their little brother’s eyes were open wide, rolling around as he glanced at the new world he’d been catapulted into. His eyes stopped when he saw two identical faces looking down at him. He pushed his lips out and his forehead scrunched like he was deep in thought.

“Hey, I think he sees us.” Grace gasped in delight.

“He’s so cute.” Lily cooed.

His eyes popped open in surprise at the sound of their voices. The new world was startling and loud to him.

“Aww, it’s okay.” Lily tried to comfort him.

A sound between a coo and a cry came out, but he didn’t look upset. He pushed his lips together and it looked suspiciously like a smile.

“They say that means he has gas.” Grace grinned.

“Well, he _is_ a boy.” Lily didn’t disagree. She looked at Alison. “Is it okay to touch him?”

He looked so small and vulnerable, like he might break if they weren’t careful.

“It’ll be even better if you hold him.” Emily encouraged them.

Alison pushed up against the bed and gently turned their son in her arms and carefully handed him to Emily. The girls flocked over to their mother and little brother.

“I wanna hold him.” Lily timidly put her finger against his cheek.

“Come here.” Emily instructed her. She took Lily’s arm in her hand and stretched it out, transporting him into Lily’s arms and up against her body. “All you have to do is support his head.”

Lily looked down, unable to take her eyes off of the newborn in her hands. She felt a knot in her throat and tears burning her eyes.

“He’s so little.” She instinctively bounced him gently when he started squirming. She rubbed her thumb against his wrist and he turned his arm and latched his fingers on to her thumb. “Hi.” She said, her voice an octave higher than it normally was. “You’re so cute.” She looked up at her moms. “Will he stay this cute?”

“You didn’t.” Grace smarted back.

“We have the same face, genius.” Lily rolled her eyes.

There was a cry of protest from the baby boy in Lily’s arms.

“Look what you did.” Lily scolded her sister. She moved him from side to side gently to calm him down. “He doesn’t like it when we fight.”

“Well he’s screwed then.” Grace laughed, leaning over her little brother. She looked down at him and smiled and then looked at Lily. “My turn.” She said eagerly.

“Let your mom help you.” Alison glanced at Emily nervously.

“They’re okay, Ali.” Emily assured her. “Lily.” She addressed her oldest daughter. “You got this?”

“Yeah.” Lily nodded, smiling down at the baby in her arms. “We’ve got this, don’t we, little guy?” She cooed.

“Stop stalling.” Grace was getting antsy.

Lily looked at her moms and sighed.

“Are we sure we should let her do this? She dropped her robot baby from our Home Ec project into the washing machine.”

“Psh, please. That was two months ago.” Grace rolled her eyes. “I’ve matured since then.”

“You laughed at the word ‘impenetrable’ fifteen minutes ago.”

Grace snorted when she heard the word again.

“Lily, let your sister have a turn.” Emily pushed gently.

Lily didn’t want to give her brother up. She wanted to hold him and snuggle him forever. She reluctantly and carefully placed the infant into Grace’s waiting arms.

He squirmed at first, but Grace immediately started talking to him.

“Hey, it’s your favorite big sister.” Grace spoke in a soothing voice. “I can’t wait to take you home and teach you the _best_ ways to mess with Lily.”

He stared up at Grace inquisitively for a few seconds and then he yawned.

“Ha, you bore him.” Lily chuckled.

“Don’t pay any attention to her. I’ll teach you how to jump out of closets and scare her as soon as we get home. We’re going to have a lot of fun together, baby brother.” She promised.

Grace talked all about her favorite ways to annoy Lily for several minutes and then Lily butted in and insisted that she get to hold him again. They were so enamored by their little brother that they didn’t even notice that Emily had sat down on the bed next to Alison. She looked at her wife, who was still practically glistening in the light from the birth. The blonde looked at her with love and adoration. No words were exchanged as they reached for each other’s hands. Emily leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her lips and Alison smiled at her. They both looked at their children at the exact same moment.

The twins could argue over who was the better sister until the end of time, but Alison and Emily both knew that the love they had for their little brother was all their baby boy really needed. Their family was perfect.


	3. Exposed

**Prompt: I have an emison prompt: takes place in 7x18 at the kissing rock. They have an after sex talk before they have to go to Spencer’s barn when the time runs out.**

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  **A/N:** _So, full disclosure I have like zero memory of season 7 in general, so I have no clue if the plot/characters as they were will be even close to canon. I kind of went from my memory as best as possible. Also I don’t really do non-existent canon scenes very well (brain is like “can’t measure up to the real thing.”)._

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**_ Exposed _ **

Alison had been able to sense Emily’s tension all day. And it’s not like they didn’t have a rough decision looming over their heads. But she hated to see the brunette so rocked, so Alison had been thinking of ways to help her de-stress

She’d been thinking a lot about the choice they had to make. It didn’t help that they, along with Spencer and Hanna, had been feeling really guilty for going off on Aria for helping _AD_. Aria had gone AWOL and _AD_ was up their asses about turning themselves into the police for what they’d done to Archer Dunhill, though the son of a bitch deserved worse.

They had so much that they wanted to escape from, physically and mentally. Emily had even been talking about taking off, which was a shock to Alison. The police showing up at their house had really gotten to Emily, and the sting of Aria’s betrayal was still fresh, so she had a lot she was trying to wrap her head around.

Emily had been so sure that Aria would never hurt them. When she found out about Aria’s involvement in the game she’d lost it. Alison had never seen Emily so shaken. So to take her mind off of everything Alison set up a home away from home, a little romantic getaway where they could forget about life for a while.

Emily had been antsy on the walk out, unable to let go of the control, still thinking about everything they were facing. It was only when she’d seen the setup of the candle-lit picnic under the stars that she’d let her guard down. She had been amazed and heartened by the gesture. She’d watched as Alison took her place on the makeshift cot and beckoned her to join.

 _“If this is our last chance at freedom…let’s make the most of it,”_ Alison had said.

So that’s what they did. They let the rest of the world go. They came together to forget their fear and their pain. They ate and shared a few glasses of sparkling cider. Emily reached for a grape every so often to feed to Alison like they would one day hopefully get to do with wedding cake. And as their time wound down from fourteen hours, to thirteen, to twelve…

They held one another, they loved one another. They forgot about the ticking clock. The evening stars above them and the blankets and pillows below them led to them getting lost in one another. It gave them something for them, and only them, for a few fleeting hours before their lives took that drastic turn over the cliff they were both fearing.

The night wore on, but they weren’t thinking about the time. They weren’t thinking about anything other than one another. The only sound in the dim candlelight was the heavy sound of their breathing. And when they’d exhausted themselves they laid together, looking at the stars. Emily thought about the unending freedom the solar system offered. It was somewhat of a comfort to her.

Alison’s cheek was against Emily’s sweaty chest, her hand resting on the brunette’s bare abdomen. She watched as her hand rose and fell with every breath that Emily took.

It was a strange thing to be so exposed out in the open, but not care. In a sense, it’s how they’d been living their lives since high school because of the exposure they often got, for the wrong reasons. It used to bother all the girls, especially Emily, who liked her privacy.

But lying out under the stars with her girl sans clothes was just what she needed. Because in that moment they were the only two people who existed in the world. It was true freedom.

Alison felt Emily playing with her hair and she smiled. But something about her touch was off. Emily was lost in thought. She was quiet, which was unlike her. Usually when they were basking in the afterglow of their wild throes of passion Emily was a cuddler and a sweet-talker, so her silence was deafening. She was clinging to Alison like it was going to be the last time she’d ever get to hold her.

Alison knew their moment of escapism was over. She knew the clock was ticking again. She could feel it like the tapping of an incessant secondhand mocking them. _Ten_ hours. _Nine_.

Emily was still silent. The last few days she had been talking about running away from Rosewood, which admittedly was usually Alison’s go-to move. But Emily wasn’t one to run. She always stayed and fought. But this was different. Because this time it wasn’t just her life at stake. Or the rest of the girls. Or Alison’s for that matter. There was a life of an innocent child in the mix.

 _Eight_. _Seven_.

The candles were slowly waning, their light being swallowed by the disappearing wicks. As the seconds, minutes…as the _hours_ crept increasingly closer to their own personal D-Day, Alison pushed through the silence. She sat up, placing her palm against her head and leaned forward on her elbow so she could look into Emily’s eyes.

“What’s on your mind, Em?” Alison reached up and brushed her hair aside.

It was a question that had an obvious answer, but in order to get Emily to actually _talk_ to her she had to ask it. Because Emily internalized. She held everything inside. Sometimes her girl needed a nudge to open up, so she pushed. Emily ran her fingers over Alison’s knuckles where Alison’s palm was still resting on her stomach and then she sighed and looked up at her.

“Was I wrong?”

“Were you…” Alison muttered in confusion. _About what?_

“To go off on Aria like that?”

Of course she was swimming in guilt. She wouldn’t be Emily if she wasn’t.

“Em…”

“I mean, _AD_ has made us all do horrible things. Who is to say that it couldn’t have just as easily been one of us? I know if the tables had been turned…if _AD_ had threatened you I probably would have done the same thing.”

“You wouldn’t have hurt anyone…”

“Ali, for you I would.” She replied, her tone so unwavering and serious that it jolted Alison a little. Because when her tone became threatening it was downright menacing. “I would do _anything_ for you.”

And the blonde knew that, but hearing Emily actually say it was something else. Alison wasn’t sure what to say, how to react. So she just nodded quietly.

“Listen, if we can’t get away from this, if we get dragged down for this…I want you to tell the cops you’re innocent.” Emily sucked on her bottom lip nervously. It was still swollen from their encounter.

“Emily…” Alison said softly, an empathetic tone wavering in her voice. It was a tone she often used to try and bring her girl down from emotional heights.

“Don’t argue with me about this.” Emily replied gruffly, which alarmed Alison. When she was serious, she was _serious_. “I promised you that I wouldn’t let anything happen to you…” She reached up, laying her palm flat against Alison’s protruding belly, “…or this child. And when the cops showed up at our house this morning with that search warrant I thought…” She clenched her jaw, tears gleaming in her eyes, “…I thought I was going to lose you both. I thought _this is it, this is how AD wins_. And I realized, whoever this is…they’re not going to stop. So if they want to take someone down, it might as well be the people who are _truly_ responsible. If the only way to get _AD_ off of our case is for someone to go down I’ll take that bullet.”

“No you won’t.” Alison scoffed argumentatively. She felt murderous at the thought of Emily taking the heat. “You were the one who said we needed to stick together in the first place.”

“That was before I realized what it meant I was going to lose.” Emily grimaced. “Look, I talked to Hanna and Spencer…” And she would have talked to Aria, too, if she wasn’t still so damn pissed at her. “And we’re all in agreement here. For your sake and the sake of the baby, you need to claim you weren’t there.” She moved her hand away from Alison’s stomach and to her side, her fingers landing against her ribs.

“What?” Alison was taken aback.

She’d talked to the girls about this? She was _serious_ about this? Alison glared at her. She was going to kill her for even considering it.

“You weren’t in the car. You didn’t help us get rid of the body. You were back at the institution before anyone even knew you were missing. And even if they do find out you ran away, you were in shock from what he’d done to you. And given what he did they’ll give you a slap on the wrist. At least you can avoid going back to jail for something you had no hand in.”

“Emily, I don’t think I can do that.” Alison was startled by the suggestion, though she shouldn’t have been, given the fact that Emily would do anything to protect her family.

“If we both go down think about what will happen. You’ve told me more than once that you’re afraid that if the system gets involved…takes our child away, it’ll just repeat the cycle that happened with Charlotte.”

Or worse, _AD_ would get involved and try and snatch the baby the first chance they got. That actually terrified Emily worse than the state getting involved. Because this _AD_ was a legit psychopath.

“You’re right, Alison. This baby deserves to be with its mother.”

“ _Both_ of its mothers. I can’t do it without you. I only said ‘yes’ because you promised you’d be there with me.”

Not that she didn’t want the baby. She still felt sick every time she thought about how she’d ended up pregnant in the first place. They’d both felt violated and angry and confused. And they still did. But it was the hand they were dealt. And knowing that it was Emily’s child…it somehow lessened the blow.

But Alison was terrified of being a mother. She hadn’t had the best relationship with her mother. She wasn’t sure _what_ a good mother should be. She sure as hell didn’t have a maternal bone in her body. She’d barely been able to remember to take her prenatal vitamins without Emily incessantly nagging her about it. She only knew she’d be able to do it if she had Emily with her, guiding her. They were supposed to figure it out together.

“I _will_ be with you. We’ll…we’ll figure something out.” Emily was grasping at straws, trying desperately to keep Alison from being dragged down with them.

“I don’t want to be sitting across a glass visitation room bouncing a baby on my lap. I want _you_ with me, Emily. We’re supposed to be a family.”

“I know. And we will be.” She paused and then corrected herself. “We _are_.” She stroked Alison’s face, which elicited a smile from the blonde. “It will only be temporary. Until we can sort everything out.”

“Which could take, what? Ten years to life?” Alison scowled at her. How could Emily think she’d be okay without her?

“Please just consider it. I can’t stand the thought of you sitting in a jail cell again.” She stopped short of saying _‘because of me’_. “If doing this means you’re safe…you and the baby…”

“I’m pregnant. I’m not an invalid.” Alison bit back angrily.

It irked her when people treated her like she was some fragile piece of glass. She often wondered why people thought pregnant women were somehow suddenly breakable just because they were pregnant. Their bodies were literally growing a human in them _and_ they continued to go about their daily business. They were badass.

“That’s not what I meant.” Emily knew she was sensitive about it.

“I’m not going to let you do this alone.” Alison shook her head.

“Would you just stop being so stubborn?” Emily grunted in frustration, though she wasn’t really angry at Alison so much as she was the situation. “You weren’t involved. You didn’t hit him. You didn’t bury him.”

“But I was there.” Alison argued.

“You were in shock! He was torturing you, trying to kill you. You were a victim that night, Alison. Because of us.” She bit her lip. “Because of what _we_ did…”

Alison’s jaw fell slack. So that’s what was really on her mind.

“Is that what this is about?” She rubbed Emily’s cheek, trying to soothe her.

“Archer never would have come after you if we hadn’t given _AD_ a reason to believe you killed Charlotte.”

“I know you didn’t do it to hurt me. And yes, I was angry.” Alison nodded, not denying it. “I was hurt. But Hanna’s life was at stake and you guys were scared. I know it wasn’t an easy choice to make.”

She couldn’t deny that it still hurt her to know that her friends, that _Emily_ , thought she was capable of murdering her own sister. But she’d learned to let go.

“Yeah, but we shouldn’t have been that careless,” Emily sighed. “You were _tortured_ because of us.”

“And you and the girls were tortured because of me. _Many_ times.” Alison argued back. She wasn’t going down without a fight.

But Emily wasn’t in the mood for logic. She was riding high on her emotions. Her brain was swirling, spinning out of control.

“God, when I think about what _AD_ did to you in that place…” Emily’s voice strained in anger. “How this person violated you…”

This monster had essentially _raped_ Alison and it made Emily so angry that she couldn’t see straight. Alison could see, could _feel_ Emily shaking, so she reached out to calm her.

“They did it to you, too, Em.” Alison reminded her. Emily often forgot about her own pain in lieu of taking care of her. “They did it to _us_. And they put us in this impossible position. But none of it is _your_ fault.”

“But…”

“No.” Alison interrupted her, not interested in hearing whatever Emily-logic she had for guilting herself into something that was not her fault. “You have to let go of that guilt. You couldn’t have known what _AD_ was planning, what Archer was planning. This is not on us. This is on this twisted sicko bitch, bastard, whatever the hell he, she, it is. Don’t let _AD_ get in your head like this. _You’re_ not the one who has done something wrong here.”

“Except vehicular homicide, aiding and abetting, tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice…” Emily laughed darkly.

“Well, if you want to get technical with all the crimes we’ve committed, I’m pretty sure my list is longer than yours.” Alison rolled her eyes with a snarky laugh. “Maybe we were just destined to end up in orange jumpsuits.”

Alison sighed and rolled to her side. Emily mirrored her motions. They closed the distance between their bodies. Alison moved against Emily’s body, needing to feel her body heat against hers.

“I can be the Piper to your Alex,” Alison suggested.

“This isn’t _Orange is the New Rosewood_. This is serious, Alison.” Emily sighed, brushing some of her hair aside. It fell against her shoulder. “We’ve come so far. It just doesn’t seem fair that this is how it ends, that this is how _AD_ finally gets the win. After everything we’ve gone through. We deserve better.” She peered at Alison. “ _You_ deserve better. I mean, you came back from the dead…”

“Yeah. For you.” Alison didn’t hesitate in her response. It had come out as natural as a breath.

Emily seemed surprised, intrigued, but not entirely shocked. Alison froze, unsure of why she’d suddenly spouted that out. She felt a rush of emotions that were out of her control, and she hated herself for it. Pregnancy hormones were a bitch.

“What do you mean _for me_?” Emily questioned.

After all the years that had gone by, Alison would have thought the truth would be obvious, but had she ever once stopped to tell Emily how she’d truly survived after being buried alive? Not physically, but mentally…emotionally.

“There’s a lot I never told you,” Alison said, her face reddening. “A lot I might not ever…” _get the chance to tell you._ She stopped herself, because admitting that she may be hauled away from Emily forever was too horrible of a thought. She’d lived a life without Emily on the run, and it had been dreadful. “I know I said and did a lot of things back when we were in high school. I know you and the girls constantly question what was true and what wasn’t…”

“We don’t anymore.” Emily assured her.

“You were right to,” Alison said. “I wasn’t a good person. And I know it. I can own that. I screwed up, _a lot._ And you…you were always so trusting. I know I hurt you the most. And I think about that every day. But I also think about how damn lucky I was to have you. You stayed even when I didn’t deserve you. And I love you for it. I don’t think I ever told you that.” Her face was ridden with guilt, pain, and a little bit of embarrassment.

“You didn’t have to tell me. I knew that.” Emily’s voice was quiet, nearly a whisper.

“I still should have said something. You deserved more. You deserved better. I’m sorry. For everything. I really am.”

“Ali, where is this coming from?” Emily asked curiously.

“I’d love to chalk it up to baby hormones, but the truth is I should have told you this a long time ago. I don’t think I ever told you how sorry I was for everything I put you and the girls through back then. You especially. When I told you that you were the hardest one to leave behind I really meant it. Because you were the only person in my life who kept me sane despite my insanity.”

“Alison.” Emily cupped her face tenderly.

“When I thought I was dying…when my mom…” Her voice caught in her throat. “When all I could taste was the dirt in my lungs, _you_ were the last thought I had. I held on to _you_. I think…” She squinted her eyes in the darkness as she thought about that night. That horrible night. Only one thing had kept her going. “…I _know_ you’re the reason I fought. To live. To survive. And then when I got that second chance at life…” She clenched her jaw. “I should have stayed. I should have stuck it out with you and the girls. I should have let you know what you meant to me then. But I was terrified and confused. And then everything happened with _A_ and I ran. But I was wrong. I should have stayed. I never should have left you behind.”

Her eyes were brimming with tears. Emily reached up and swiped one away with her thumb.

“That’s why I can’t let you and the girls take the fall for this alone. I owe you more than that. All of you. I’m not leaving you again.” She swallowed hard. “I’m not going to lie. I’m scared. Terrified, actually. And I know you are, too. And I know you want to run, that you want _me_ to run, but speaking from past experience that’s not going to solve anything. Baby or not. It doesn’t change how I feel. We can’t leave. I _won’t_ leave. All that escape talk was just a fantasy. _You_ are my reality, no matter where we are.”

Emily’s brow furrowed and tightened, a mixture of annoyance and being impressed with her unyielding determination. She rolled her eyes in frustration.

“You are the only person in the world I know who is stubborn enough to turn down a ‘get out of jail free’ card.”

“It wouldn’t be free,” Alison replied softly. “I’d have to live with the guilt of knowing that you and the girls were rotting away behind bars knowing good and well I should be in there with you. It’s not right.”

“I _want_ to do this.” Emily clarified. “Let me do this for us. Please. That way at least one of us can be there for her.” She put her hand against Alison’s belly again.

For a second, the weight on Alison’s shoulder seemed less heavy. It’s the first time she’d heard Emily definitively say what she thought the baby’s sex was.

“You think it’s a girl?” Alison’s lips curled up in a smile.

“I do.” Emily nodded with a grin.

“How do you know?”

“Because of the morning sickness and the fact that she’s so picky with the food you eat. She’s a drama queen. Boys eat anything.” Emily smiled.

“Boy _or_ girl, I can’t imagine any child of _yours_ being a picky eater.” Alison smirked, a dual meaning to her tone. “How _did_ dessert taste, by the way?”

It was so unexpected that Emily huffed out a laugh, one so boisterous that it echoed off of the trees. It was a moment of pure joy and elation that they both needed.

“I’ll be ready for seconds soon.” Emily leaned forward and placed a kiss against her shoulder.

Alison felt a rush of heat flowing to her cheeks as Emily pressed a kiss lower, trailing her hands down to her stomach. She placed a soft kiss against Alison’s baby bump and then moved back up to kiss her on the lips.

They peered at one another through the flickering candlelight, neither of them moving. Their minds were fixed on that damn clock again.

“Have you thought about names?” Alison tried to draw Emily out of her thoughts again.

She saw Emily smile.

“You remember when you first told me that you had feelings for me? And then later that night we…”

It was Alison’s turn to smile.

“Our first time. Of course.” She nodded.

“You had a vase of flowers on your nightstand.”

“Yeah. From you. My dad said you stopped by early that morning to give them to me to help me transition back into my first day of school. But he wouldn’t let you wake me, so he just gave them to me when I got up. I remember. They were lilies.” She paused and thought about something. “Wait, have you been thinking about baby names since _then_?”

“Alison, I used to doodle our names in little hearts on my notebook.” She laughed. “I mean, I did dream about having a family with you some day.” Though this wasn’t exactly what they’d planned. Then again, nothing about their relationship was conventional. “You looked so beautiful in your bed next to those flowers. After that night I just…I couldn’t get the name out of my head.”

“So…Lily. I like it.”

“Lilian Grace.”

“Why Grace?”

“Because her mother is the most graceful person I’ve ever seen.”

“Stop.” Alison rolled her eyes with a laugh. “You’re so cheesy, Em.”

“You know you love me.” Emily kissed her softly.

“Mmm, I do.” Alison nodded. “So, where do you see us raising our little girl?”

“Somewhere warm.” Emily glanced up at the sky. “Near the water.”

“Is she going to be a swimmer like her mother?”

“If she wants to be. I honestly don’t care as long as she’s happy.”

Alison just stared at her with a smile on her face. Despite everything Emily had been through she was still the same person. She still had that hope for a happy ending. It’s why she loved her so much.

Alison saw Emily’s gaze drift over to her phone to see what time it was.

“Hey.” Alison touched Emily’s cheek and swept some of her hair behind her ear. “Don’t. We still have a few hours.”

She just wanted to stay lost in their fantasy for a few more hours…

“It’s not enough time,” Emily said, pulling Alison closer to her body.

“It never is.” Alison replied sadly.

“We…um…we haven’t even talked about what will happen to her if we both end up getting charged for what happened to Archer.”

“I have, actually.” Alison admitted. “I know it’s a really weird situation and all that, but I really want her to go to your mom. We could come up with something to tell her…other than the truth, obviously. With your mom I know she’d be safe and loved. After all, she did a fantastic job with her first baby.”

“I could get behind that.” Emily nodded. “She would love our baby to pieces.” She looked down sadly. “Or we could go with my fail-safe option.”

“Which is?”

Emily pulled Alison’s hand up to her lips and kissed her knuckles. Alison smiled softly at her. They laid in silence for a few seconds. Then Emily heaved out a sigh.

“If I can’t convince you to plead innocent then I have no other choice but to drug you and stick you on a plane to Paris.”

She was joking, but only partly. She had thought about buying Alison a one-way ticket and then convincing Jason to get her on the plane before the girls turned themselves in.

“If I wake up in a foreign country while you and the girls are being martyrs here in Rosewood I will come back with a vengeance and strangle you, Emily Fields.” Alison threatened. “You’d _need_ to be behind bars to protect your ass.”

Emily couldn’t help but laugh. Her hand moved to Alison’s belly again and Alison reached down and put her hand on top of Emily’s.

“There is not a chance in hell I’m leaving you, so you just get that through your head. I meant what I said. I want to do this.” She curled her fingers into Emily’s palm. “ _With_ you. Not with you behind bars. Not with you being tortured or dead because of _AD_. This baby is going to have _both_ of her moms. We’re in this together. _You_ taught me that. That we’re stronger together.”

“Damn, why did I have to be such a diplomatic teacher?” Emily shook her head.

“I’m putting an end to this argument, okay?” Alison pushed her lips against Emily’s. She had her attention. “Now kiss me and tell me you love me, and just let me hold you.”

Emily’s lips curled into a smile. She loved her so much. She really did. She moved forward, capturing Alison’s lips.

“You’re infuriating.” Emily whispered against her lips.

“I know.” Alison replied, pecking Emily’s mouth.

“But I love you.” She pecked back.

“I love you, too, Em,” she said softly, smiling. “We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

They didn’t hear the ticking of the clock anymore. Because they had all the time in the world as long as they had one another.


	4. Loss

** Prompt: ** **Could you do a drabble were Alison has a miscarriage please?**

* * *

  _ **A/N** _ **:** _ Warning:_ _Please note that the subject material for this is heavy and it is not something I take lightly. It hits very close to home. The loss of an infant is a delicate thing that has an impact on that baby’s family’s lives forever. This is an extremely sensitive subject that widely affects parents everywhere. Any time I am writing something this raw and real I worry about the impact it might have on readers._

_Much like my 9-11 oneshot I had to really consider whether or not this was something I wanted to put out there, because the last thing I want to do is peel open healing wounds of anyone who has dealt with this. However, with October having been Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month I am also aware that this is a subject that is considered worth talking about. Every single baby that has been lost is WORTH remembering._

_That being said, I do urge anyone who is sensitive about it to proceed with caution._

_Every experience is different, and I only hope that I was able to write this particular scenario with Alison and Emily respectfully and in a tactful way. To anyone who has experienced the loss of a baby, know that my heart is with you. Always._

_Note that it’s a lengthy prompt. I did not want to rush this one._

* * *

  ** _Loss _ **

Three words changed Emily DiLaurentis-Fields’ life and the life of her entire family. Three words.

_“Something is wrong.”_

Alison had been feeling off all day. Emily had taken the day off to care for her. Alison’s first pregnancy had been somewhat difficult, but it was a breeze compared to her second one.

She’d felt nauseated and crampy all morning. Emily thought they should go to the doctor, but Alison insisted she just needed to rest. She was tired, nothing more. And while Emily conceded to Alison’s wishes, she still felt a strange uneasiness needling the back of her brain.

Emily could feel it. It was the same twisted feeling she’d felt in the pit of her stomach the day her dad had died. Something was wrong.

There was something off about Alison, and it worried her. She’d practically spent the entire day hovering over her and pacing so much that she was wearing a hole in the carpet.

Alison was worried about how jittery she was. But she was so focused on Emily that she didn’t realize that her own body was trying to tell her something. A sensation, a warning. It’s like the Earth had slowed on its axis and the clouds were drifting down around her…and her family. The family she was _expecting._ But she shook it off, her attention focused more on wondering why the hell Emily was acting like the world was crashing down around them.

She didn’t know that very soon, it _was_ going to come crashing down.

An hour later when Alison felt the first spasm of pain she knew her morning sickness was something more.

She called out for Emily, but Emily couldn’t hear her over the sound of the microwave downstairs in the kitchen. She was heating up Alison’s tea for her and making her some soup for dinner.

Alison felt an odd pressure against her stomach and suddenly, she felt like she had to pee. So she sat up against the edge of the bed and put her swollen feet against the ground.

She glanced over her baby bump at her toes. It dawned on her how strange it was that she was already retaining so much water when she was only halfway into her pregnancy.

When she was pregnant with the twins she’d made it to almost the eighth month before her feet and ankles had started swelling. But that had been twelve years ago.

Maybe her body had changed, she rationalized.

She felt another tight spasm in her pelvis and then another stab of pain. She huffed as she got to her feet. She thought she felt movement inside of her belly, but it wasn’t a motion she was used to. It wasn’t a kick or the twists and turns of the baby trying to settle.

Something was wrong.

She tried to push the worst thoughts out of her head. The last ultrasound two weeks ago had been fine. Her son was fine. Three nights ago he’d been kicking up a storm. Lily and Grace had taken turns putting their hand on her belly and marveling at their little brother’s strength. Lily said she thought he was going to be a ninja. Grace was convinced he was going to be a kicker for the NFL.

Alison stood up, feeling a liquid leaking into her pants. She clenched her thighs together to try and hold her urine until she could get to the bathroom.

She was halfway to the adjoining bathroom when something tightened roughly in her pelvis. The pain was so intense that she fell forward, grasping at the side of the dresser. She cried out and started huffing out unsteady breaths. She groaned.

“Alison?” She heard Emily’s concerned voice behind her.

Alison glanced over her shoulder and saw Emily holding a tray with a bowl of soup and a mug of hot herbal tea. Emily saw the look of pain contorted on Alison’s face. She immediately put the tray down on top of the small armoire by the door.

“Ali? What is it?”

Alison cried out, _shrieked_ , in pain. Emily was by her side in an instant.

“Emily, something is wrong.” She cried.

_Something is wrong._

The words terrified them both.

Alison reached down into her pants because she’d felt a warm wetness pooling in her underwear. It was too early for her to go into labor, so she knew it wasn’t her water breaking. But she also knew at this point it wasn’t urine either.

When she pulled her fingers out covered in blood her face blanched. She felt a sharp pain in her abdomen and doubled over. Alison looked at Emily, tears filling her eyes. When was the last time she’d felt their son moving? He’d been still most of the day. He hadn’t been active at all yesterday either.

“I can’t feel him moving anymore.” She suddenly felt panicky.

More blood was soaking through her clothing. Alison moaned, grabbing Emily’s arm for support. She tugged at the hem of her maternity pants, desperately trying to pull them down, because she knew…she _knew_ what was happening. And she wasn’t going to let it happen.

“Baby, you should sit down…”

But Alison was too frantic to hear her. She moved her pants down, almost falling over in the process. She cried in frustration when another wave of pain hit her and she had to stop moving because the movement made it worse.

“Hey, take it easy.” Emily put her hand on top of Alison’s, helping her steady herself as they worked her pants and underwear down to take a look. Her thighs were soaked in blood. It was dripping down her legs. She started to sink to the ground on her knees. Emily caught her before she hit the floor.

“Emily, I don’t feel right.” Alison’s head started sagging on her shoulders.

“Hey, Alison, look at me.” Emily put her free hand on Alison’s cheek.

But Alison couldn’t focus. Another sharp pain rocked her body and she screamed out in pain.

“Oh, God. It hurts.” She cried, squeezing Emily’s arm so tight that her fingernails dug into her skin, drawing blood. It was worse than labor pains. Because at least with the labor pains she’d had with Lily and Grace she knew she’d get to see the light in their eyes when they were born. “It’s too early. This can’t happen yet…” Another stabbing pain. Another cry. “Emily!”

“Ali, you’re going to be okay. Just…”

“He’s in distress.” Alison cried. “I can feel it.” She groaned. “Em…” She weakly raised her head to look at her wife. “Promise me if it comes down to me or him you’ll choose him.”

Nineteen weeks was almost five months. Micro-preemies could make it. Against all odds. And she knew her son was strong. There had to be a way. He had to survive. She couldn’t be losing him. She’d done everything right. It wasn’t fair. It couldn’t happen.

“Hey, it’s not going to come to that.” Emily tried to stay calm.

 _Please God, don’t let it come to that._ Emily wasn’t sure she could make that call if it did.

Alison saw stars. Her vision started to fade.

“Alison, hold on.”

Another bolt of pain. Another agonized scream. Followed by silence. Chill-inducing, heart-stopping silence. Alison slunk down into Emily’s body, her large belly pushing her into an awkward position. Emily moved her around until she was behind Alison, propping her up, trying to rouse her.

“Mom?” A timid voice whimpered from the doorway.

When Emily looked up she saw Grace staring at the blood pooling on the floor. She looked like she was ready to pass out…or throw up.

“Grace, I need you to call 911.” Emily shifted so she was kneeling behind her wife, getting ready to pick her up.

Grace, her normally wildly disobedient brat of a child did exactly as she was told, probably for the first time in her life. She couldn’t find her phone so she ran into Lily’s room in a panic.

“Something is wrong with mom.” Grace had tears in her eyes. “I think it’s the baby. We need to call an ambulance, but I can’t find my fucking phone.” She growled in frustration.

“What?” Lily scrambled off of her bed, knocking her math book and several sheets of paper on to the floor.

She grabbed her phone and quickly called 911. The second the operator answered Lily nervously spouted out,

“Our mom is pregnant and something is wrong and we need help.”

“What if he dies? Or mom?” Grace started to hyperventilate. “What if they both die?”

“Hey, calm down, Grace.” Lily tried to comfort her.

Lily split her focus between Grace and the 911 operator as they both ran down the hallway towards their mothers’ room.

Emily slid one of her arms underneath Alison’s knees and her other arm underneath Alison’s shoulders, pulling her off of the ground. Alison’s head lolled on her shoulders, her eyes weakly opening up. She looked up at Emily, a pitiful expression in her eyes.

“Emily…”

“Just hang on. We’re going to get you to the hospital.” Emily started walking out of their room towards the hallway. “Everything is okay, Ali. I’ve got you.”

“We called 911,” Lily said, her hands trembling, the phone still in her hand.

The call was still connected. Emily could hear the operator trying to say something, but her focus was on getting Alison safely down the steps. When she got downstairs, she gently laid Alison down against the couch.

Alison groggily opened her eyes, looking at her. She started to cry. Emily wiped away her tears. Neither one of them had the words to express the pain they felt.

They heard a stifled sniffle behind them and when Emily looked over her shoulder she saw her twelve year old twins. They looked like terrified toddlers.

“I accidentally hung up on 911.” Lily whimpered.

“It’s going to be okay girls.” Emily reached out to take the phone.

But she didn’t call 911 back. Instead, she called her best friend. Because she knew the girls needed to be looked after. She didn’t want them at the hospital. She didn’t want their memories of this to be any worse than they already were. She didn’t want them to sit in stiff waiting room chairs in a hallway that reeked of disinfectant, rubbing alcohol, and death.

Hanna had picked up after one ring. She and Emily had been texting all day about how Alison wasn’t feeling well. So when Hanna answered, she felt a tense ball in the pit of her stomach telling her something was wrong.

“Em, is everything okay?”

“No.” Emily didn’t realize how much she was shaking until she heard the sound of her voice. “I’m going to the hospital with Alison. Can you come over and sit with the girls?”

“I’ll be there in five minutes.” Three if she ran the stop signs and red lights, which she absolutely planned on doing.

She hung up and bolted for her car just as the ambulance was pulling into the DiLaurentis-Fields’ driveway. The girls saw the flashing lights. There was a moment of panic from the twins. Grace started to cry. Lily was calm, but shaky. She grabbed her mom’s arm gently.

“Mom, we want to go with you.” Lily had tears in her eyes.

“I know, baby. But you and Grace need to stay here. It’s for the best. Your Aunt Hanna will take care of you. And I’m going to take care of your mom.”

“What about the baby?” Grace questioned. “Will you take care of him, too?”

“Oh, sweetie.” Emily reached out to brush Grace’s tears away. She didn’t know how to explain what was going on to them, not without breaking down. “Look, whatever happens, we’ll get through it together.”

“Is he going to die?” Grace asked.

“Grace!” Lily hissed, almost in a panic, like the question was going to jinx the situation, like their little brother’s fate was in their hands and that if they thought only good thoughts nothing bad would happen to him.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen. But I promise you we’ll let you know something as soon as we know. Now, you be good for your Aunt Hanna.”

The girls didn’t argue.

Hanna got there just as they were loading Alison into the ambulance.

“The girls are inside.” Emily blinked in shock when she saw Hanna rushing towards her.

“Hey, I’ll take care of them. You just take care of Ali.”

Emily nodded. She didn’t realize she was crying. Hanna reached up, brushing her thumbs against her best friend’s cheek.

“I can’t believe this is happening.” Emily’s body shook with sobs.

“Just breathe, Emily. Ali needs you right now.”

That’s all Emily needed to hear to get ahold of herself. She hugged Hanna before she climbed into the ambulance with her wife. Emily waited until they were on the road, then she called her mother in tears, telling her what was going on.

Alison was in and out the whole way to the hospital. She was bleeding a lot and she was dizzy from the pain and the blood loss. The shock had hit her hard. But she was fully aware of her surroundings when they were wheeling her into the emergency room. The pain of the contractions was more intense than the ones she’d had with Lily and Grace. Or perhaps she was just in a weaker state.

She looked around the room. The lights felt so bright. The air felt cold. There were people in scrubs running all around. The only thing that brought her any comfort was seeing Emily by her side. She had squeezed her hand so much that Emily had lost feeling in her fingers.

Alison felt a cool gel oozing on to her belly, but unlike when they’d gotten their sonograms there was no tittering excitement in the room. The doctor frowned at the ultrasound image. Alison was somewhat cognizant of the doctor talking to them, telling them their worst fears.

Yet despite knowing what she knew, Alison still fought the urge to push. Because it was too early. And what if the doctors were wrong? What if their son was okay? What if they were missing something? What if there was something more that could be done?

“Alison, we need you to push.” The doctor urged.

“No.” Alison cried weakly.

“Ali…” She heard Emily’s shaky voice.

“No!” She hissed angrily at her wife.

She was mad at Emily, because why wasn’t she fighting this? Why wasn’t she screaming at the doctors to do something? Why was she so quick to believe the worst? Why wasn’t she _stopping_ this? She knew it was irrational, but she didn’t care. Because…

No. Alison couldn’t accept it. She refused to believe this could actually be happening. Just days ago their little bug had been kicking up a storm. Just two weeks ago they were watching him swirl around in his 3D sonogram. He looked like he was deep in thought, leaning on his knuckles as if he had a very serious matter on his mind: like what was better? Hot Fries or Curly Fries? The real life questions their genius son would ask.

She broke down in tears. Of pain. Of exhaustion. Of anger. Of fear.

“Emily, I don’t want to. Please don’t let them make me do this. I want to go home.” She begged.

Hearing the words ripped Emily’s heart to shreds. What was worse than losing their son was watching the pain on Alison’s face as she tried to come to terms with it, of seeing Alison try to bargain with the inevitable. Emily felt helpless. Because all she wanted to do was swoop in and save her. To stop this from happening. But she couldn’t. She was angry at herself. Angry for not being more insistent, for not doing something more.

“Please, can we go home?” Alison cried.

Because if they went home none of this would happen. She would be fine. Their son would be fine.

“I know you’re scared. And I know you’re hurting. But I’m right here, honey.” Emily put her other hand over their joined fingers, cupping Alison’s hand in hers. “I’m right here and I’m not going to let you do this alone.”

“Tell me this isn’t real.” Alison whimpered.

“I can’t do that.” Emily’s voice came out as a trembling cry.

Alison’s body was contracting and pulsating and she felt like screaming, because her brain and her heart were in a battle to the death with one another. Her brain told her the truth. She’d heard what was said to her, but she couldn’t mentally process it. She couldn’t comprehend it, because her heart was telling her not to give up. Her heart told her that maybe there was still hope.

It was a nightmare. It had to be. Some angry inner demon playing on an expectant mother’s worst fear. She shut her eyes tightly, begging to wake up, begging for the dream to end.

Another wave of contractions hit her and she shot up in the bed and screamed. She saw the doctor sitting between her knees, her feet still in the stirrups. She was still here. She was still in her nightmare, in this hospital room with all these somber faces.

Still, she refused to push. She turned to Emily crying,

“This isn’t real.” She repeated. “This is a nightmare.”

“Ali…”

But she shut Emily out. She closed her eyes, images of the pregnancy flashing through her mind. The countless fertility treatments they’d done. The joy on their faces when the pregnancy test came back positive. Listening to his little heartbeat for the first time. Telling the twins. Telling their friends. Coming up with his name. Planning everything about what they’d do after he was born.

“I’m having a nightmare. I want to wake up. Emily, tell me to wake up.”

Emily lowered her head, trying to hold in her tears, trying to hold it together for her wife. Her heart was thrumming so fast she felt dizzy. She was vaguely aware of a nurse asking her if she was okay. She brushed her off, telling her she was fine. Though, for a few seconds she thought she was going to pass out.

But she forced herself to ignore her own pain and focus on Alison. She moved in closer to her wife. She placed a firm, yet delicate kiss against Alison’s sweaty temple. She could actually taste her wife’s pain on her lips.

“Baby, we’re losing him. I’m so sorry, but we’re losing him.” Emily said it out loud. She needed to hear it just as much as Alison, because it was real. Whether they wanted it to be or not, it was real.

“We…we’re not. It’s just…he’s going to be okay.”

“Alison, listen to me. If you don’t do what the doctors say we could lose you, too. The girls and I could lose you.” She glanced at the machines monitoring Alison. She knew they were dangerously close to an emergency situation with Alison. “I know you don’t want to…” _She_ didn’t want her to. Emily wanted to wake up from this nightmare, too. “But I can’t lose you, too, Ali. I can’t…”

Alison saw the desperation in Emily’s face. And she knew she had no choice but to do as the doctor told her. He counted slowly, coaching her through as if it were a completely normal labor.

She had flashes to when the girls were born, her memories of that day full of brightness and happiness compared to the dark and dreary clouds looming in the hospital today. She wasn’t sure what was being ripped apart more: her birth canal or her heart. She pushed, panted, and cried. And Emily was by her side the entire time.

“One more push…” The doctor had his hands up in between her legs.

“I can’t.” Alison cried. Not physically. Not emotionally. She just couldn’t. She couldn’t bring her son into this world just to lose him.

“Baby, you have to.” Emily squeezed her hand, her eyes full of tears. She pressed her forehead against Alison’s temple, lightly kissing the top of her jaw. “You have to.”

Alison felt one final contraction and she yelped. She took a breath and looked at Emily for support, her big brown eyes telling her what she’d been saying all along: _I’m here._ She squeezed Emily’s hand and let out a sob as she bore down.

There were no cries of joy from the mothers. There was no crying coming from the tiny little soul that was in the doctor’s hands. The room was silent. And the silence was the loudest noise in the world.

Alison fell back against the bed, breathless sobs rocking her body. Emily pushed up as close as she could get to her, crawling against the side of the bed just so she could hold her. It was almost an effortless movement, a natural reaction to be there for her. Alison gripped her shirt tightly in her fingers, twisting the fabric as her tears soaked her clothing. Emily soothingly stroked the back of her head.

Their moment was broken up by the sounds of shuffling at the foot of the bed. The doctor cleared his throat. When they looked at him they saw a tiny bundled cloth in his hand and they knew their son was wrapped inside of it.

“Would you like to see your son?” His voice was soft, delicate. It almost sounded broken, despite the fact that he’d probably had to do this thousands of times before.

Alison couldn’t bring herself to look, but Emily couldn’t look away. She moved forward to see her baby. He was tiny. So small that he could fit in the palm of the doctor’s hand. His brownish-red skin was thin and she could see his microscopic little threadlike veins that had once been coursing with life underneath his paper-thin skin. His eyes were closed, not fully developed yet. His arms were the size of Emily’s pinky finger.

His little hands and feet were tiny, probably no bigger than the size of a dime. He had all ten fingers and all ten toes. His hands, hands that would never reach out for his mommies, were curled against his chest. His tiny feet – feet that would never touch the ground, feel the grass between his toes, feel the sand on the beach – were crossed at the ankles. He looked like a little doll that had been preserved in a shining coat of wax.

He looked beautiful to her. She felt her emotions bubbling to the surface, but she still refused to break down. Not in front of her wife. She had to be strong for Alison.

“Would you like to hold him?” The doctor offered.

Emily felt Alison shift, her curiosity getting the better of her. Emily looked at the exhausted blonde. Alison looked back at her and nodded silently, tears still streaming down her face.

They took turns holding him, telling him how much they loved him and how perfect he was. They spoke to him, they sang to him, they kissed his tiny fragile little body. They laid in the bed together for what felt like the longest time before a nurse came in, offering to take him so they could make molds of his handprint and footprint for them.

She took their tiny little boy from them, turning to offer to bring him right back with a cooling system for him so they could spend as much time with him as they wanted. But Alison told Emily she couldn’t say goodbye to him again, so they told their son they loved him one final time before he was taken out of their lives for the last time.

When the nurse walked out Alison started to cry again. Emily pulled her close as she wept. The keening wails that echoed throughout the room didn’t sound human. It was the primal cries that only came with the loss of a child. Emily held her, rocking her as she cried.

The thoughts going through Alison’s mind were the loudest things she’d ever heard. What had happened? Why them? How long ago had it happened? When had it happened? Could they have done something more? If they had come to the hospital this morning like Emily had wanted would he still be alive? Or had it happened days ago and she’d just been carrying on as normal?

And the loudest question of all…

“Was…was it me? Did I do something wrong?” Alison sniffled.

“Oh, honey…” Emily reached out, stroking her cheek. “Baby, no.”

“Then why did this happen? What happened to our little boy?”

Emily didn’t have an answer, and it killed her. All she could do was hold her and be there for her.

They slowly let their friends and family know. Hanna made several phone calls for them, and then per their request, brought the twins to the hospital so they could be there with them when they got the news. Both girls sobbed and cried until they had no tears left to cry. They took the loss of their little brother incredibly hard.

They had a few visitors in the hospital, but for the most part their friends didn’t want to overwhelm them, so they sent cards and flowers and all of their love. People didn’t talk much about miscarriages. They didn’t know how, and that was okay. Because it was better to hear a generic “I love you” than for someone to say the wrong thing. Sometimes the best thing to do was say nothing, and to act out of love instead.

Sometimes just being there was enough. So that’s what their friends did. They loved them. A hand squeeze here. A hug there. A warm meal, or four. A realistic “I’m sorry. This fucking sucks. I love you,” compliments of Hanna.

When they got home Emily busied herself taking care of Alison and the girls. The days went by in a haze. They had to go through something that they never in their wildest dreams thought they’d have to go through: picking out a tiny casket for their baby and planning a service for his burial.

The service was beautiful, a bittersweet testament to the impact the little boy had made upon their lives and the lives of their friends and family.

Emily managed to hold it together, throughout the service and the following days. She was Alison’s rock. It was only when she was sorting through the nursery with Hanna one day when the girls were at school and Alison was asleep that she felt the feelings of grief consuming her.

She came across a little onesie her son would never get to wear. It was the one they’d picked out to bring him home from the hospital in. Of course, he’d been way too small for it at birth, so they’d buried him in something different.

“Em, I found some of Lily’s and Grace’s old baby toys. Do you want me to…”

When she turned around she saw Emily sinking down against the crib with the onesie in her hands, clutching it like a lifeline. Tears were streaming down her face. She started taking sharp harsh breaths. She couldn’t breathe.

“Oh, Em…” Her best friend quickly crawled beside her and engulfed her in a hug.

Truth be told, it was a relief for Hanna to see her finally letting go. The girls had been worried that she’d been holding everything inside. She’d showed very little emotion at the hospital and at the service. They knew she was trying to keep it together for her wife, but they also knew it was in her nature to internalize until it nearly killed her. They knew that it was only a matter of time before it consumed her. Hanna was thankful she was there when it happened.

“Han…” She held the onesie near her face, imagining him wearing it, imagining what he’d look like in it, what he’d smell like…

“I know.” Hanna replied soothingly. “I know, Em.”

“He’s gone.” She choked.

Hanna knew there wasn’t anything she could say to make it any better, so she just held her and let her cry. They stayed in their embrace for several minutes.

They heard a shuffling noise. When they looked up they saw Alison standing at the door. She walked towards them, slowly, almost ghost-like.

Emily dropped the onesie in surprise and wiped her cheeks, but she couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. She didn’t want her wife to see her like this. She didn’t want to worsen her grief.

“Ali, I…”

“Emily, it’s okay.” Alison felt her eyes filling with tears. She leaned down next to her wife, putting her palm against her damp cheek.

Hanna moved back, letting them have their space. She pulled the onesie off of the floor and stood up.

“You’re supposed to be in bed resting,” Emily said, her nose completely stuffed up from her crying jag.

“I want you with me.” Alison felt a tear slip down her face.

She knew Emily needed her just as much as she needed Emily. Emily needed to grieve, too. Alison was aware that the brunette had yet to face her own feelings because she was too busy trying to protect hers. She knew Emily needed to rest, too.

“You can’t hold it in forever, Em.” Alison wiped away some of Emily’s tears. “Come on.” She held out her hand.

Emily didn’t resist. Her entire body was aching with a pain that was more than physical. She followed Alison into their room. They crawled into the bed, Alison reaching out to wrap her arms around her wife. And for the first time, they cried, they _grieved_ together.

In the following days and weeks they leaned on one another more than they ever had in the past. The pain never went away, but it got easier to manage with time. Losing a baby was very much like losing a part of one’s soul. Their son had taken a piece of both of them with him.

There wasn’t a day that went by that they didn’t think of him. Of the birthdays he would never celebrate. Of the adventures he would never get to have. Of the goodnight kisses he’d never experience. They wondered what his first words would have been, what his laugh would have sounded like, and if he would have had a favorite bedtime story.

They often thought about things like how much he would have loved his big sisters or what his first day of school would have been like. Who he would have befriended. What he would have learned. How he would have changed society. Every time they saw a child exploring the playground, learning how to ride a bike, or taking their first steps they thought of him.

As a reminder of the impact he had on those around him they had the mold of his little hands and feet in a small casing on their mantle, along with a small golden plate with his name.

_Samuel Wayne Fields  
“It is the smallest souls that leave behind everlasting love. Forever in our hearts.”_

And those hearts were broken, but Alison and Emily wouldn’t have their hearts be shattered for anything less. The heavy grief they had for him was because of the insurmountable amount of love they felt for him. That love was what they tried to hold on to. He was gone, but the imprint he had left on their hearts would last forever. They held that little boy in their hearts every second of every day.

And they always would.


	5. Bet

**A/N:** _The last prompt is probably the darkest of my prompts. Right now I've mostly just got the rest of my Emison family fun prompts to move over from tumblr. I think for the most part the rest of these prompts follow a storyline, though this was not an intended story. The asks were from many different dates and they're out of order on tumblr. It's just my anal-retentive nature trying to keep things in order.  
_

* * *

**Prompt:** **I have an emison prompt: Alison and Emily finding out they are having a baby the second time around Alison is pregnant. And they have a bet on what they are having.**

* * *

_ **Bet** _

Emily's eyes were closed in concentration. She delicately massaged her fingers against her wife's exposed skin. Alison reached down and tucked her fingers underneath Emily's chin, drawing her wife's attention away from her little protruding baby bump and up to her face.

Alison couldn't help but smile at Emily's dedication to making sure her pregnancy was as stress-free and relaxing as possible. That's how they'd ended up snuggled on the couch, Emily talking to their growing little one. Emily had become very enamored in her conversation with their unborn baby while she was trying to determine the sex. Emily rubbed her palm over Alison's belly and focused in on it in deep concentration.

"It's a baby, Em. Not a magic 8-ball." Alison laughed.

"I know." Emily rubbed her belly again with a smile. She pressed her lips against Alison's exposed skin right below the midriff on her shirt. "Talk to me, little nugget."

"Again, a baby. Not gonna talk…" She was cut off when she felt movement, a kick.

Emily smiled and looked up at Alison.

"You were saying?"

"That was just a coincidence."

"Oh, really?" Emily lifted her brow. "Kick your mommy's bladder if you can hear me."

"That's not funny, Emily. I already practically pee myself every fifteen minutes as it is…"

"She loves you despite her complaining." Emily assured the little fetus.

Alison felt movement, a reaction to Emily's voice. Alison couldn't help but smile.

"Okay, real important question here, peanut." Emily spoke soothingly. "No pressure."

"You are ridiculous." Alison laughed.

"Maybe. But my methods work. I have a sixth sense for this."

"If that's true why didn't you know we were having twins the last time?" She motioned to their twelve-year-old girls sitting across the living room playing a video game.

"Shh, I'm doing important work here." Emily shushed her jokingly. "Okay, baby." Emily addressed Alison's stomach again. "Now, are you a little girl…"

She waited a few seconds. No motion. No movement. No kick.

"So, you're a baby boy, then?"

Unbelievably, there was a kick.

"Fool-proof Fields method." Emily nodded. "My dad did it when my mom was pregnant with me, and he was right. So I'm casting my ballot. My vote is baby boy." Emily grinned, rubbing Alison's stomach. "My little man."

"God, if he is a boy he's totally screwed. As if his mommies aren't hormonal enough, he's going to have to contend with two moody teenage sisters."

"You guys know we can hear you, right?" Grace looked up from the TV, a video game controller in her hand.

"Ha! Suck it, Grace!" Lily took the opportunity to edge Grace out of the game they were playing.

"Hey, no fair. I paused it for a reason…"

"Yeah, because you're a sucker." Lily grinned.

"Moms, she's being mean to me…"

"She's gloating. There's a difference." Emily shrugged.

"Punish her for gloating." Grace demanded.

"Not my fault that you can't beat me."

Grace's cheeks flushed red in anger. It wasn't uncommon for them to fight every day, sometimes three to four times a day, about who was better at what. Grace _hated_ to lose. When she was a toddler she'd throw tantrums. Lily had beat her at Candyland once and Grace had yanked on her hair and stabbed her with a game piece. Everything was a competition with the two of them.

"Pay up, loser." Lily flipped her hand over, palm up. She gestured slightly with her fingers curling towards her body.

Grace looked at her mothers and then at her sister, an idea suddenly coming to mind. She'd heard all the adults talking about whether her moms were going to be having a boy or a girl. They had even taken it as far as placing bets on it. Grace decided she wanted in on the action.

"How about another game?" Grace asked.

"Come on, I've already beat you three times. You really want to keep embarrassing yourself?"

"No. A different one. And the odds are 50-50. Gives us both a fair shot. But it's a long game."

"I'm listening." Lily was intrigued.

"So you're in?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. Let's take this pot and add a buy in of ten bucks for the new game. Fixed odds. Double or nothing," Grace said.

"Who the hell taught you gambling terms?" Alison frowned.

Grace's and Lily's eyes both flickered towards Emily. Emily glared back at them for throwing her under the bus.

"Did you teach our children to gamble?" Alison exclaimed.

" _Teach_ is kind of a strong word. They _may_ have stayed up late with me and the girls for a few poker nights."

Alison's jaw dropped, but it had nothing to do with teaching their children how to gamble. She was upset for another reason.

"You play poker without me?"

"Baby, you know I love you, but you give away too much with your tells."

The most ironic thing about Alison being one of the biggest liars in Rosewood when she was a kid was the fact that now that she was grown, she couldn't bluff for shit anymore, _especially_ not when she was pregnant and emotional.

"That shouldn't matter." Alison sulked. "We're supposed to be in this marriage together. Through better or worse, through wins and losses…"

"I won two grand the last time I played without you." Emily interrupted her.

"Shutting up." Alison nodded.

"So, girls, you want in on the action of the baby pool?" Emily smiled at her twins.

They were just as mischievous and devious as she and Alison had been when they were younger.

"Yeah." They replied in sync.

"I dunno. What do you think, Alison?" Emily asked with a teasing smile on her face.

"I think I gave birth to two suckers and it's mean to let them practically give us their money." Alison joked. "But they've got to learn somehow. Better at home than at the tracks."

"So you'll let us play?" Lily smiled in excitement.

Emily nodded.

"There are three polls going, but only two big ones. The first is whether it's a boy or a girl. And the second is the day you think your mom is going to give birth."

"What's the third one?" Grace asked curiously.

Emily looked at Alison in amusement. Alison glared at her, warning her not to tell the girls.

"How many times your mother swears in the delivery room."

"Ohhh, I _definitely_ want in on that one. If it's anything like her road rage, I could clean up with my winnings of that one." Lily smiled.

"You're grounded until you're thirty-five." Alison scowled at her eldest daughter.

After a few seconds a smile spread across her face and the two of them laughed.

Lily stood up and walked over to her moms. She looked over Alison's stomach as if it was a difficult word problem that needed to be solved. She flipped her tongue in between her teeth and tried to decide. Ever the scientist, she was looking for any factor that could steer her in the right direction. Also, gambling with her sister was serious business. She _had_ to win.

"When you were pregnant with us did your belly stick up or hang low?"

Alison looked at Emily, and though she couldn't say what she was thinking, Emily picked up on her train of thought,

_She makes it sound like a dick._

Then again, maybe that was the point. Maybe it was part of her scientific process. Or maybe her mommies just had filthy minds.

"I carried mostly in the middle with you girls. I started showing pretty early, but then again there were two of you."

"Aunt Hanna suggested that it's going to be twins again." Grace smirked.

"You're not allowed to hang out with your Aunt Hanna anymore," Alison said dryly.

God help them if they ended up with another set of twins. They loved Lily and Grace, but they couldn't do two babies again. Not on top of the surly kids they already had.

Lily took her mom's answer into account and then her face tightened in concentration. She looked a lot like Emily when she was trying to mentally work something out.

"What kind of cravings did you get with us?" Lily glanced at their half-eaten dinner on the coffee table.

"Sweet. Always sweet. I ate entire box of chocolates on Halloween." Then she'd promptly puked. "I also had a thing for dill pickle chips."

"Yeah, and always at like two in the morning." Emily scoffed.

"So you're the reason I love pickles." Grace nodded.

"Were there any smells that made you nauseous?" Lily asked.

"Coffee."

"So basically you couldn't hang out with Aunt Spencer at all." Lily laughed. "Anything else?"

"Pine needles."

"Oh, yeah." Emily nodded. "Christmas was hell for you."

Alison had insisted on letting Emily decorate a real tree even though it made her sick to her stomach. She knew how much Emily loved Christmas.

"Was there anything…"

"For God's sake, Lily, just bet already!" Grace exclaimed impatiently.

Lily looked at Grace with a snooty expression.

"I think mom is right." Lily looked at Emily. "I think it's a boy."

"And how did you _scientifically_ conclude that?" Grace snorted.

"Simple." She walked over to her sister and plopped down next to her with a smile. "Mom is always right."

Emily grinned. Alison hit her for gloating.

"Well, I think it's a girl." Grace disagreed.

"Why?"

"I don't have to tell you my methods."

"You're just saying it's a girl because I think it's a boy."

"No, I'm agreeing with mom." She pointed to Alison. "She said the other day that the baby was bitching at her. _Girls_ do that."

"You curse in front of our children?" Emily looked at Alison with a smile on her face. "And you give me crap for letting them play poker."

"Ah _ha_! You _do_ let them play!" Alison pointed an accusatory finger at Emily.

Emily reached over and pinched Alison's side where she was ticklish and she almost leaped off of the couch. Alison glared at her, but then laughed. Grace and Lily glanced at one another and rolled their eyes, because their moms were like so _totally ridiculously_ mushy.

They went back to trash talking one another over their video game while Emily and Alison watched. They didn't have much else to do but wait. Because the new game they were playing was a long game. They had another three weeks before they knew whether they were going to have a baby brother or a baby sister.


	6. Overdue

** Prompt: ** **I remember that a couple of months ago I saw some post here where you said that if Ali was pregnant again she would like tell the fetus to evict if she went over her due date and I found it really funny. So I was wondering if you could do a prompt like that?**

* * *

  ** _Overdue _ **

There is nothing worse than being pregnant and past your due date. It was a certain kind of hell that Alison DiLaurentis-Fields wouldn’t wish upon her worst enemy, and in her life she’d made _a ton_ of enemies.

She was uncomfortable all the time. Her back hurt. Her boobs were sore. She constantly had indigestion. She was always hot and sweaty and felt gross. She was anxious about how big the baby was getting, because clearly he was going to have to come out of her. Her feet were the size of a Yeti’s feet. She looked like an overblown beached whale. She had trouble sitting up and she barely fit through the door anymore. And she had to pee _all the time_.

She and Emily had tried everything they could think of to try and get her labor started, not that Alison looked forward to the labor pains. But a few agonizing hours was worth finally being able to get comfortable again, and hold their son of course. But being uncomfortable took precedence over the baby at the moment, because she was so frustrated.

Their friend Aria had been trying some homeopathic techniques to keep a cool and calm environment for the baby. But Alison and Emily both knew that once their son was on his way out there wasn’t going to be anything cool and calm about it.

Just like with the twins Alison would scream and curse and take an angry swing at Emily in the delivery room. She’d grab Emily’s hand so hard that she’d nearly break her fingers and her fingernails would draw Emily’s blood because she was squeezing so hard. And then after it was all over, when they were looking at their son, they would both cry and smile at each other and Alison would take Emily’s hand and kiss the bruises she’d accidentally given her. And Emily would lean forward and stroke their son’s cheek and kiss Alison’s sweaty forehead.

But none of that would happen if the little snot refused to come out. She’d talked nicely to him, begged him, threatened him with both adoption and eviction, but nothing worked. Her son was stubborn and didn’t care about anything she said or did.

So now…she was at the lowest of the low…

“Come on. Come _on_.” Alison groaned in frustration. “Please?” She reached down in between her legs and dangled a crisp ten dollar bill between her thighs.

Emily walked by their room carrying some of the twins’ laundry, whistling to herself, only catching what was going on in her peripheral vision. Even in quick passing she saw that something was off. She stopped the second she got past the door frame and slowly backed up. She peered into their room and looked at her wife in confusion. She put the basket of laundry down.

Alison was sitting up against the bedframe with her knees up and her legs wide open. She was looking down and fanning a ten dollar bill between her thighs. Alison heard the noise at the door and she looked up to see a very confused brunette looking at her in surprise.

“Um?” Emily questioned with a tone that clearly said, _“explain…”_ as she pointed to the situation that was happening.

“I’m trying to bribe him,” Alison said. Before Emily could burst into laughter she glared at her. “Shut up. He’s two weeks late. Spicy food isn’t working. Aria’s stupid herbs aren’t working. Walking around isn’t working. Sex isn’t working.” Though it was certainly enjoyable. “I’m allowed to try things _my_ way.”

“Ali, I don’t think a ten spot is going to entice a baby out of the womb.” Emily snorted in laughter as she walked towards her.

“You don’t know. Maybe he likes money.”

“He’s _your_ child. He _definitely_ likes money.” Emily nodded with a smile. “But for one thing, you’re totally low-balling him. And he’s smart enough to know it. And for another, I don’t think cash is what brings on labor.” She paused and thought about something. “It’s actually usually the other way around.” She sat down against the edge of the bed.

Alison felt a kick directly on her bladder and she felt just the tiniest bit of leakage in her underwear thanks to her loose bladder.

“You little shit.” Alison glared down at her stomach.

He knew what he was doing.

“I am so done with this kid.” Alison fell back on to her mound of pillows in frustration. “You try.”

Emily shook her head with a laugh. She leaned forward, putting her palm against Alison’s belly. She rubbed it as she moved closer to address their son.

 _Their son._ God, they’d been so happy when they’d first heard it was a boy. Their girls were moody as hell. So when they found out it was a boy they’d been overjoyed.

 _“I’ve never been so happy to see a penis in my life.”_ Alison had smiled at the ultrasound photo.

 _“You know you owe me fifty bucks, right?”_ Emily had poked her in her side.

_“I don’t even care. Look at his little pickle. It’s so cute.”_

Now that she was two weeks overdue Alison didn’t think anything about their little boy was cute anymore. She was ready to cut him out of her stomach so she didn’t pee on herself every time she moved. She was pissed that he wasn’t listening to her. She looked at Emily, hoping she’d be able to talk some sense into him.

“Hey, little dude. Your moms _really_ want to meet you, so how about this?” She kissed Alison’s baby bulge and then looked up at her wife with a devious smirk on her face. “I’ll be the cool mom here. Ten bucks? Psh. What is mommy thinking with that? I’ve got a hundred dollars for you if you come out right now.”

Alison glared at her.

“You’re mocking me?” She scowled. “I’m carrying your son and you’re mocking me?”

“Of course not.” Emily reached up and rubbed her arm with a smile. She looked at Alison’s over-extended belly and addressed the baby again. “There’s a plasma TV and an X-box in it for you if you come out today. Mama has today in the pool, so with all that money I can buy you whatever you want.”

“You know what? You’re carrying the next one.” Alison frowned at her wife. “And I hope it’s twins and you’re a _month_ late!”

“Alison, calm down.” Emily laughed.

“ _You_ calm down.” She felt like a five-year-old, but she didn’t care. She was so _over_ this pregnancy thing. “You’re not the one crying watching commercials about cell phones.”

She hated her hormones so much. Yesterday she’d lost it watching a commercial about a soft drink. Stupid adorable animals selling carbonated beverages.

“I’m crazy and fat and hideous.” Her voice trembled.

“Babe…” Emily stroked her cheek, trying not to laugh, because she knew it was just the hormones. “Do you really think that?”

“How can you even look at me? I’m a blimp.” She pouted, moving her belly up and down.

“You’re carrying our baby. Our son. You’re the most beautiful thing in the world to me.”

“You have to say that. You’re my wife.”

“Grace and Lily complimented you at breakfast this morning.” Emily reminded her.

“You paid them to say nice things to me so I didn’t fly into a rage and throw eggs and biscuits at their heads.”

Emily couldn’t argue. Her children really were easily bought. But they did love their moms and they had been doing a lot for them since Alison had been put on bed rest.

“We’re at the finish line here, Ali.” Emily promised.

“If you give me one more speech about how we’re almost there I am going to rip this headboard in half and hit you in the face with it.” And more hormones were raging. “And as for _you_ , young man.” She poked her stomach, like poking him was going to make him pay more attention. “You have overstayed your welcome at Motel Mommy. You have not paid your rent in nine and a half months. This is unacceptable! I am no longer your slumlord mama. This is your eviction notice.” She put her hands against her stomach as she spoke to their unborn son. “Vacate the premises immediately or I’ll make you vacate by force!”

“What, are you going to throw his umbilical cord and placenta out on the front lawn?” Emily asked in confusion.

“You have five minutes to gather all your things and _get out_.” Alison continued growling at her belly.

Emily chuckled at the imagery of a little baby carrying a suitcase and walking out of the womb with a little top hat on his head.

“I don’t hear packing.” Alison poked herself again.

She felt movement, like he was turning over to get more comfortable. Then he was still again. Alison let out a frustrated groan.

“Hey, don’t you ignore me!”

She felt like he was already some surly teenage boy pulling the covers over his head and pretending his mom didn’t exist. Alison mumbled underneath her breath.

“Freeloader.”

“Ali, I know bed-rest is making you a little cranky, but…”

“I am _not_ cranky!” Alison glared at her.

“Right.” Emily nodded with a teasing smile. “Of course not.” She ran her hand over Alison’s stomach. “How about I heat up last night’s dinner and bring it to you?”

Alison sighed. Food did sound good right now.

“I don’t want leftovers.” Alison decided.

“Well, what can I get you? A burger? A gallon of pickles? Maybe an entire gazelle, fresh from the savanna? I can just…grab a little weak one that will be easy for you to pick off. It’ll fill you up and it might help that rage of yours, too.” She smiled.

Alison smacked her, hard. But she had a hint of a smile on her face. Because Emily always knew what to say to bring her out of her moods.

“Okay, okay, I’ll get you a bigger one. Just promise me you won’t rip my arm off when I feed it to you.”

Another smack.

“You’re making fun of an angry hormonal pregnant woman right now.” Alison glared. “You’re never getting sex again.”

“You’ll change your mind in a few hours when those hormones kick into overdrive.”

“No. I mean it. I’m becoming a nun. I’m abstaining.” Alison folded her arms across her chest like a defiant five-year-old, resting them against her baby bump.

“Is that so?” Emily reached her hand under Alison’s gown, slipping her fingers against her thighs.

Alison shuddered at her touch. God, she was always _so_ horny at this stage in her pregnancy. Seconds later she was leaning forward to try and capture Emily’s lips. She moved one hand down on top of Emily’s and pushed her long tan fingers closer to her core.

Emily pulled back with a chuckle.

“My point exactly.” Emily grinned.

“Oh, it’s like that? Huh? You’re just going to tease me? Just rev the engine and leave it idling...”

“I was just making a point.” Emily stroked her face. “We’ll continue it tonight. I promise. But you really do need to eat something. I’ll whip something up.”

“I’d rather you just bring the whipped cream up and let me eat what I _really_ want.” She looked at Emily’s body.

“Good God, were you this handsy when you were pregnant with the twins?” Emily laughed.

“You started it.” Alison shrugged.

“And I’ll finish it.” Emily promised. “But you’re going to eat a proper dinner first.” She leaned forward and placed a gentle peck on Alison’s lips. Alison tried to pull her closer, but her stomach got in the way. She grumbled in frustration when Emily pulled away. “I’ve got to go. I’ve got to round up the girls. Lily is at the library and it closes in…” She looked at her watch. “Shit, ten minutes.” She stood up, stopping to delicately rub Alison’s exposed leg. “I’ve also got to make sure Grace does her math homework. Lately she’s been rebelling against her school work. Something about not wanting to conform to society and not wanting to be another ‘pawn’ in ‘the man’s’ construct. Lily threw a Political Science book at her head two nights ago when Grace called her a mindless drone who refused to join the revolution.”

“We’ve really got to stop letting her watch films about rebellion and revolution. She’s learning too much.” Alison laughed.

“She’s just mad she lost the bet about her brother to Lily.” Emily shrugged.

“That was months ago.”

“No one can hold a grudge longer than _your_ daughter.”

“Oh, sure, blame the pregnant lady.”

“Not for much longer. He’ll be here soon.” Emily touched Alison’s stomach again. “I won’t be gone long. Grace is here if you need anything. She knows how to get in touch with me.”

“You’re putting my fate and the fate of our unborn son into the hands of a barricade building tyrannical rebel?”

“She’s been instructed not to start any wars without consulting me first.” Emily nodded as she walked out.

Alison laid back against the bed. Her back was cramping and her bladder felt like it was going to burst. She waddled to the bathroom and then after she was done she went back to bed. Then she felt like she had to pee again.

“ _Really_?” Alison growled down at her stomach. She sighed again and then reached over and grabbed the ten dollar bill. “Here, baby baby baby…” She called like she would a puppy.

Emily kept her promise that night, but even after they were done with their throes of passion…still no labor. Alison was starting to get pissed again. She rolled to her side to try and get comfortable, her anger starting to get the better of her. But then she felt Emily massaging her shoulders to try and soothe her aches and pains. Emily reached for a container of cocoa butter massage cream and spread it evenly along her fingers and then rubbed it against Alison’s belly. Then she started working the knots out of Alison’s shoulders and spine. Shortly afterwards Alison was asleep.

Sleeping never lasted very long for Alison after she’d hit the last trimester, but that night it was shorter than normal. She felt a familiar twisting pain in her back and abdomen. She felt her body contracting and seconds later she felt something wet pooling between her legs.

Her water breaking.

She quickly rolled over.

“Em…” Alison shook Emily’s shoulder.

“Hmm?” Emily immediately reached for Alison’s face. It was a subconscious action she’d done for years. It was her instinct to comfort her, even when she was half asleep.

“You’re gonna be buying that plasma TV and X-Box after all.” She felt another contraction and she groaned. She put her hand on her stomach. “He’s coming.”

“Guess that eviction notice worked after all.” Emily sat up and turned on the light.

Alison laughed, but then her face twisted into a contorted ball of pain. Contractions were a _bitch_.

“Okay, hold on. Hold on…” Emily leaped out of the bed.

They already had a bag packed for the hospital. Emily had thought of everything and she was ready for this. Alison watched as Emily took control of the situation. And for a few swift moments she didn’t feel the pain of her contractions. All she could see was the love she had for her wife. It was something that could get them through anything, even pregnancy hormones and an overdue lazy fetus, whom they were going to meet _very_ soon.


	7. Family Part II

** Prompt: ** **Can you write a Drabble were the girls meet little Sam? And he’s the only baby so Hanna’s being all Hanna and Spencer is all “Hanna what let the child breathe?” I would love to see the dynamic.**

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  **Family: Part II **

Alison watched her wife slowly pacing around the room with their newborn baby in her arms, quietly bouncing him and speaking soothing words to him to try and get him to settle for a nap.

It had been an insanely difficult labor and Alison was exhausted. But she didn’t want to go to sleep, because she didn’t want to miss a moment of her son’s first day. Emily uttered something about his aunties coming to visit him and then she kissed his head. She was so in love with him.

She looked over at Alison.

“How are you feeling?” Emily asked.

“My stitches hurt.” Alison admitted. She’d been ripped open quite a bit because of their son’s breech birth. She’d lost some blood, but in the end she’d made it through it…because of her wife’s encouragement and support.

“Can I get you anything?” Emily asked.

Alison smiled, her dimples puckering in the soft hospital light. She shook her head. Seeing Emily with their baby was all the pain relief she needed.

“I’m okay,” Alison replied. She glanced at the clock. “Did I hear you say something about the girls coming to see him?”

“Spencer and Aria are on their way. Hanna has been in the waiting room for the last thirty minutes cussing at them for taking too long.”

Alison pictured Hanna impatiently pacing around the hallway waiting room while tapping her foot and sending increasingly aggressive messages to Spencer and Aria asking them if they were riding to the hospital on the back of a turtle.

“It’s a good thing you waited until after to call her. She would have bullied her way into the delivery room and pulled him out with her bare hands.”

Their friend Hanna had been looking forward to the birth of their son almost _more_ than Alison and Emily had. She loved babies. She’d stayed the night at the hospital when Alison’s and Emily’s twins were born.

“I swear if Caleb doesn’t put a baby in her soon she’s going to steal one of ours.” Alison added.

“I’d be willing to part with Grace right now. She snuck into the morgue and jumped out of a body bag and almost gave an intern a heart attack.” Emily had an annoyed look on her face. “Got to give her points for creativity though.”

“Where is she now?”

“Probably playing darts with syringes somewhere.” She looked down when the baby squeaked in her arms. “Your big sister is a devil.” She warned him.

Her phone bleated from the table. Emily walked over and looked down at it.

“Aria and Spencer are here. They’re on their way up.”

“God, why does childbirth produce such adorable little things that people want to visit? The mothers always look like hell. I probably look like a sweat-sock that’s been through the wash cycle one too many times.” She tried to fix her hair.

“You look beautiful, Alison.” Emily assured her, moving one of her arms out from under their son, balancing him in her other arm as she put her palm on Alison’s face and brushed her thumb against her cheek. “Besides, all the attention is going to be on him.”

As it should be. Alison couldn’t argue with that. And Emily was right. The second their friends arrived they were all over the baby. Hanna practically swooped him out of Emily’s arms.

“Jeeze, Han. He’s a baby, not a football.” Aria laughed.

“I couldn’t help myself.” She looked down at him and smiled, her voice soft and quiet as she spoke about him, “He just makes me wanna hug him and kiss him and squeeze him.” She lifted him up. His eyes widened in surprise, like he was alarmed by her. But he didn’t cry. She took a whiff of his head. “He smells so good. He’s got that fresh baby smell.”

“We should contact the dealership about that. We clearly specified we wanted the Royal Pine scent.” Emily quipped.

Alison laughed and the girls turned their attention to her.

“How are you doing, Ali?” Spencer asked.

“I’m sore. Pretty much everything below my bellybutton hurts,” she said, glancing down. “I’m pretty sure I look like Frankenstein’s monster down there, but Emily won’t hold a mirror up to it and let me see.”

Because Emily knew she’d freak out if she saw the swelling and the stitches.

“Aw, did you break your mommy’s vagina?” Hanna cooed at him.

“Hanna!” Spencer frowned in disapproval.

“He’ll be hearing about it for the rest of his life, I’m sure.” Aria laughed, reaching down to rub his cheek.

“Damn straight he will.” Alison said. “I’m probably going to pee when I sneeze because of him.”

“But look at that sweet little face.” Aria very lightly pinched his cheek. “You can’t look at that sweet little face and be mad at him.”

“I know, right?” Hanna smiled. “He’s so adorable.” Hanna snuggled him. “I’m just going to take him. You guys can cook up another one, right?”

“Oh, yeah, sure, I’m just an incubator up for hire.” Alison replied with a sarcastic laugh.

“Actually, with the additional mouth to feed we could use the extra income.” Emily teased.

“Nope. Next one is your turn. My cooch is officially closed for business.” Alison shook her head.

“God, this poor little boy is so doomed in this estrogen-fest.” Spencer put her hand on his blanket. She felt him kick his foot. “I know.” Spencer nodded and spoke to him like she understood what he was saying. “I’m so sorry about all of these crazy women. I’ll try and get your Uncle Toby to bro out with you when you need to escape the crazy ladies.”

“Oh, he loves us.” Hanna scoffed. “Don’t you, little guy?” She puckered her lips out at him.

Emily and Alison watched them in amusement. This was better than any TV show they’d ever watched. Sometimes they forgot how hilarious their friends were.

He started squirming in Hanna’s arms. His face started to redden. A quiet squeak turned into a broken cry.

“I believe he’s tiring of your antics.” Spencer looked over Hanna’s shoulder at him.

“Nonsense. He’s just warming up his vocal chords so he’s ready for Karaoke night with Auntie Hanna and Uncle Caleb. We’ll do matching outfits and everything.”

“I am taking the child away from you now.” Spencer threatened.

“You’ll have to catch us first.” Hanna smiled playfully. She very quickly, but also very carefully backed out of the room.

“Hey, get back here! It’s my turn to snuggle him.” Aria was quick to follow.

“I’ll save him.” Spencer shook her head with a sigh as she followed Aria out of the room.

“I think our son was just kidnapped.” Emily’s lips turned upwards into an amused smirk. “Should we alert the authorities?”

“Nah. A few days with Hanna and he’ll walk out on his own.”

“ _Days_?” Emily laughed. “Try _hours_.”

Seconds later they saw Hanna shuffle by their door, still holding their swaddled baby boy in her arms. She was laughing as Spencer and Aria playfully chased after her.

“Grown ass women acting like children with a toy.” Emily snorted out a laugh.

“They are going to get banned from the hospital.” Alison shook her head with a chuckle.

“Just try and stop them from getting in. Hanna would probably scale the side of the building,” Emily said.

“And Spencer and Aria would be right behind her the whole time bitching at her.” Alison nodded.

“Wild horses couldn’t keep them away.” Emily smiled. She watched them go by the doorway again. “God, they are worse than Grace and Lily. I should probably go get him before Hanna decides to re-enact the entire plot of _The Lion King_ with him.”

“Nah, let them tire themselves out. That way, it’s three less babies we have to take care of later on tonight.” Alison suggested.

Eventually the girls stopped fooling around and took turns holding their new little nephew, passing him around and marveling at him in wonderment. Emily and Alison looked at their friends, knowing how lucky they were to have such a close group of family. Their son would never have a shortage of love. He was surrounded by family. And they couldn’t have asked for anything more.


	8. Playtime

**A/N:** _This one got long, because when you’re dealing with such a large cast of characters it gets…busy, and it’s not easy to toggle._

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 **Prompt:** **I think it would be interesting to see the rest of the girls with the arrival of the baby boy! Because assuming you use the twins being twelve I would guess it’s been a while since the liars had a baby to dote on! Hanna being all baby feverish! And I would love to see Lily and Grace introducing their baby brother to the rest of the liars kids and being protective and excited! Like sort of a barbecue to celebrate the newest arrival! Thanks in advance.**

* * *

**_ Playtime _ **

The weather was perfect. The clouds were heavy and thick, so the sun wasn’t _too_ intense. The wind was trickling lightly through the air. Hanna and Caleb had picked out the pavilion closest to the playground so the kids wouldn’t get too bored while the grown-ups partied.

The kids were, of course, circling the cake that said “Happy Birthday Hanna!” on it, waiting for the glorious moment they got to dig into the pure sugar. Hanna’s little girl swiped her finger through some icing and then ran away giggling. The kids were having a blast. And the adults were, too.

Emily climbed out of the driver’s seat and opened the back to get the stroller out. Her twins, who had just turned thirteen both leaned forward to look at their baby brother in his car seat. This was his first big outing and the girls wanted to make sure it was a good one.

“Do we have enough diapers?” Lily asked her mom, who was unbuckling her belt in the front seat.

“Yes, Lily.” Alison mumbled, humoring her daughter.

“What about sunscreen? I heard that babies are really sensitive to the sun.” Grace added.

“He’s got it on.” Alison had basically bathed her son in sunblock right before they left the house.

“Do we have his binky? He’ll get really fussy without his binky,” Lily said.

Alison paused and frowned. Crap. _Had_ she remembered his binky? Was it in his diaper bag? She glanced in the rearview mirror at her daughters.

“Girls, would you stop backseat parenting me?” Alison nagged. “Help your mother get the stuff out of the back.”

“She totally forgot the binky.” Lily scoffed with a laugh as she climbed out of the car.

“I heard that!” Alison exclaimed.

“I got your back, Mom.” Grace leaned forward and handed her the extra pacifier she’d brought. “I threw his favorite blanket in the diaper bag, too.”

Alison reached back and grabbed the diaper bag while mumbling to herself about what a terrible mother she was. She climbed out of the car and Emily met her to get their son out.

“Don’t forget his hat.” Lily walked by them holding a large wrapped box.

“You expect her to make sure he’s properly dressed? She put two totally different color socks on him this morning. And his shirt is on backwards.” Grace followed her sister.

“You’re both grounded until you’re forty!” Alison called out after them.

“Babe, if they’re still living with us when they’re forty, we’ve done something terribly wrong.” Emily laughed and reached inside the car. “What is up with you today?”

“Why do our daughters know more about our son than we do?” Alison asked grumpily.

“Because they haven’t been awake for the past three weeks straight with him. They have the luxury of being well-rested.”

Sam squeaked from his car seat and Emily leaned down and kissed his head.

“Not that we don’t love every minute with you, buddy.” Emily assured him as she reached in to unhook the car seat. The car seat doubled as part of the stroller, so it was convenient for them to just leave him there. It was especially important if he was asleep. They NEVER wanted to wake him when he was sleeping.

But he was wide awake right now, his curious eyes drifting around the park. Emily pulled up the sun visor on the stroller so he wouldn’t be exposed to too much sunlight.

They walked over towards where all of their friends and their children had gathered. The kids were running around in various areas of the park while the adults mingled with one another. As they got closer they saw Lily and Grace talking to Aria and Ezra’s six-year-old son. He saw them coming and he waved.

“Hi, Finn.” Emily smiled sweetly at him.

He wrapped his arms around Aria and looked up at the adults with a shy smile. He was by far the most introverted of all the kids. He was still coming out of his shell. He’d always been quiet. Aria and Ezra had adopted him when he was two. He’d come from a broken home and was skittish. But after a month with Aria and Ezra he’d started to smile and loosen up and he’d been doing well ever since. He loved them both, but was particularly attached to Aria. He was a mama’s boy.

“Hey, buddy, you want to meet your new cousin Sam?” Ezra leaned down until he was eye level with his son.

Finn nodded. He looked over the edge of the stroller curiously.

“It’s okay. He won’t bite.” Grace poked the youngster playfully. “I might though.”

Finn giggled and then leaned in closer. Sam looked up at him and Finn smiled.

“Hi, Sam.” Finn reached into the stroller cautiously. He laid his index finger across his hand. Sam immediately latched on to his finger and Finn looked up at Aria and Ezra in excitement. “He likes me!” He looked at the baby and then back at his parents and decidedly said, “I want a baby brother. I’m gonna ask Santa for one.”

“Uh…buddy, Santa doesn’t exactly deliver babies.” Aria laughed nervously.

“Then where do they come from?”

“Hey, let’s go get a cupcake.” Ezra suggested.

“Oh, yeah!” And his mind was suddenly on sugar instead of babies. But he hadn’t forgotten about the infant beside him. “It was nice to meet you, Sam. I can’t wait until you’re older so we can play together.”

He was such a sweet little boy. So curious about the world, but he watched from the sidelines for the most part. But Sam’s arrival had definitely piqued his curisoty. Alison and Emily snickered as Ezra tried to keep his son occupied and _not_ asking about where babies came from.

They heard an excited cry behind them. They turned around and saw several of their friends walking towards them.

“You brought me a baby for my birthday!” Hanna squealed walking up next to them, her husband Caleb beside her. “This even beats the vintage _Vuitton_ dinette set Mona and Mike shipped over from France earlier this week. All other gifts can go home. This one wins.”

“Hey, Han.” Emily smiled. “Happy birthday.”

Spencer and her husband Toby were right behind Hanna and Caleb.

“Keeping her out of the cake has been exhausting.” Spencer joked.

“I told you we should have rented a baby to keep her distracted.” Toby nudged Spencer with his elbow.

“Oh my God, he’s doubled in size.” Hanna leaned over and picked Sam up.

“You saw him two days ago.” Emily teased.

“Oh, he’s so big.” She snuggled him. “What are they feeding you?”

Sam’s face scrunched up, but he didn’t cry. He’d gotten very used to his Aunt Hanna being all over him.

“You might want to let him breathe. Just a suggestion,” Spencer said with a laugh.

“Are you kidding? He’s not going to stay this little and let me do this forever. I’ll take the time while I’ve got it.” She looked at her husband. “Cami was crawling away from me the second she was mobile. I barely even see the girl anymore unless she wants money.”

As if on cue, her nine-year-old daughter came jogging over to her.

“Mom!”

“Not now, Cami. Mommy is busy contemplating replacing you with a younger model.”

“But I want some money for the vending machine.” Cami slowed her pace, dragging herself the rest of the way.

“We literally have a table full of food.” Caleb laughed at his daughter. Leave it to their child to have a feast in front of her and want 3-year-old stale chips from a vending machine.

When Cami got closer she saw the baby in Hanna’s arms. She’d heard all about Sam, but she hadn’t met him yet. She pushed closer to her mom.

“Aww, he’s adorable.” She cooed. She looked up at her mom. “Can I hold him?”

Hanna looked at Alison and Emily for permission and they both nodded. Grace and Lily both glanced at one another nervously.

“Maybe she should sit down?” Lily suggested.

“I know how to hold a baby.” Cami scoffed. “I held Finn when he was little.”

“And you dropped him.” Grace gave her a hard time.

“I was five.” She rolled her eyes. “And Finn is fine.”

She motioned to Finn playing with a small model airplane he’d built with his dad. Ezra picked him up and made engine noises and Finn giggled and threw his arms out like he was a plane. Aria snapped a picture of the two of them.

“Choo choo!” Finn exclaimed loudly.

“You’re a plane, not a train, buddy.” Aria reminded him.

They were still working with him on vocabulary. He’d been a little behind in his development when he was a toddler because of the care he was lacking at home. But he was rapidly catching up to a higher percentile now that Aria and Ezra were in the picture. He was a very intelligent little boy.

“Well, he’s mostly fine.” Cami laughed nervously.

“It couldn’t hurt for you to sit down.” Caleb agreed with the twins. “This is a little different than sitting for a picture with a toddler in your lap.”

Cami did what she was told. She sat down and Hanna gently put the infant in her arms. The young girl gasped in delight when she saw Sam looking up at her. He smacked his lips a few times and squirmed a little bit. His forehead crinkled and something that looked like a smirk washed across his face.

“He’s smiling.” Cami’s face lit up in excitement.

“Look at that. Look how cute she is with him. God, I miss having a baby around.” Hanna leaned in to hug Caleb.

“You just _think_ you miss it.” Caleb reached out and touched the baby’s cheek, unable to ignore his spell-bounding captivity. “But remember all those sleepless nights we had with Cami when she was his age?”

“What I remember is rocking her to sleep and singing to her until she settled and then falling asleep with her in my arms.”

“Funny. I seem to remember you telling me you wanted to neuter me.” He was putting it mildly. She’d been much more graphic.

“Oh, that was just the hormones and lack of sleep talking.” Hanna shook her head with a laugh.

Caleb chuckled and faced Emily and Alison, remembering exactly how much having an infant could rattle marital nerves.

“How are things going?” he asked.

“Oh, neither of us has slept in almost a month, all of our clothes are covered in substances neither one of us wants to identify, there are dozens of half-filled coffee cups scattered all throughout the house, we don’t know where Lily and Grace are half the time, and we plot each other’s deaths every night in the middle of the night when he cries,” Emily said with a smile, leaning in to kiss Alison just to let her know she was teasing…mostly.

“Sounds about right.” Caleb laughed.

Sam started whimpering in Cami’s arms and she looked down and panicked.

“Oh no, am I doing something wrong? What does he need?”

“He just needs his favorite sister.” Grace edged her way down next to Cami and took Sam from her.

His cries increased in volume. Grace bounced him to try and settle him down.

“Here, let me try.” Lily followed Grace around.

Grace carefully passed her baby brother over to her sister and he almost immediately stopped crying.

“Hey, you were right.” Cami laughed. “He just needed his _favorite_ sister.”

“Hey, _I_ did most of the calming. It’s like…opening a pickle jar. You work and work at it and can’t get it and then the next person comes along and it’s easy for them because you did all the hard labor.”

“She just called you a pickle, peanut.” Lily bounced Sam.

Sam cooed.

“I do all the hard work and you take all the credit. Unbelievable.” Grace scoffed.

“You just described being a parent.” Spencer tousled Grace’s hair. “It’s not an easy job…”

“Mom!” A whiny voice echoed across the air. Everyone turned around and saw Spencer’s eight-year-old daughter Violet running towards them in tears, blubbering about something her sister had done. “Bailey wouldn’t let me jump off the merry-go-round!”

“Girls, play nice…” Toby tried to interject, but before he could finish his other daughter was already jumping in to defend herself.

“Because it was going too fast. She would have busted her head open.” Ten-year-old Bailey replied. She stared at her little sister. “Do you _want_ to die on the playground? Because that’s how you die on the playground.”

“Like I was saying…” Spencer said under her breath. “Parenting.” She shook her head.

“She thinks I’m a baby.” Violet sulked.

“You’re not a baby, Vi, _that’s_ a baby.” Bailey saw Grace and Lily doting on their brother.

“Oh!” Violet exclaimed, her mouth falling into an ‘o’ as Lily turned towards them.

“Hey, Bailey. Hey, Violet.” Lily picked Sam’s arm up and made him wave at the girls.

Their fight was immediately forgotten the second they saw Sam. They quickly crowded around him.

The curious crowd continued to grow when Jason and his brood got there twenty minutes later. They had just gotten Sam settled back into his stroller when two excited voices shrieked from across the playground.

“Aunt Ali! Aunt Emily!”

Alison and Emily glanced at the two sandy-haired blue-eyed boys racing towards them. Jason’s boys Leo and Maddox were five and six. They both looked exactly like Alison’s brother. Of course, Jason’s wife Danielle was also blonde-haired and blue-eyed.

“Hey, sis.” Jason smiled.

“Alright, who invited _this_ joker?” Alison teased.

“I was obligated to bring him.” Danielle smiled. “Something about ‘for better or worse’.”

Jason grabbed her around her waist and tickled her and she laughed and playfully popped him.

“Hey, Dani.” Emily waved.

“Hey, Em.”

“You brought Sam?” Maddox danced around on his feet in excitement.

“Of course they did! You can’t leave a baby home alone, duh.” Leo rolled his eyes at his older brother.

Maddox leaned over the stroller and stuck his hands inside without hesitation.

“Hi, Sammy. Remember me? I visited you in the hospital. We brought you a teddy bear.” He pat his arm like he was a puppy.

“Gentle, Maddox.” Grace warned him.

Sometimes the excitement got the better of her cousins. Jason’s boys were very outgoing, and they _loved_ their new baby cousin. When Maddox and Leo had visited Sam in the hospital they had started tugging on his arms and fighting over him like he was a toy.

“I wanna hold him,” Maddox said enthusiastically.

“Me first!” Leo pushed his brother.

“Boys, why don’t you go play?” Jason suggested. The baby was durable, thankfully, but Jason knew that his boys would wear him out before everyone had their chance to spend some time with him.

“Finn, you wanna come?” Leo turned to Aria’s little boy.

“Okay.” Finn smiled.

“Girls, why don’t you go with them? Keep them out of trouble?” Toby faced his daughters and the rest of the kids.

The kids wandered off to play for a while and the adults all took their time loving on Sam. After about thirty minutes the kids all came storming back to get drinks and gather around the baby again. They were fascinated by him. Sam’s mouth fell open as he looked around at all the new faces surrounding him. They took turns holding him, cooing the whole time.

Alison and Emily barely saw their son all afternoon. Neither of them would admit it, but they appreciated the break. They found a shaded spot on a bench overlooking the pavilion and watched as their family doted on the boy.

“We should have charged a fee to let people hold him. We could have all three of their college tuitions paid.” Emily smiled.

“Hanna would probably pay us good money for him.” Alison nodded in agreement.

“You’d miss him too much.” Emily laughed. “You freaked out when we went to lunch without him the first time.”

“That was when I was still young and stupid and not sleep deprived.” Alison yawned.

They heard a fit of laughter from the kids. It made Emily and Alison both smile. Alison reached out and took Emily’s hand, their fingers lacing together naturally. Alison laid her head against Emily’s shoulder and a content sigh came out of her mouth. They both hummed in delight.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Alison asked.

“Mmmhmm, he’s going to sleep tonight.” Emily breathed a sigh of relief.

They both closed their eyes and bathed in the sunlight, thoughts of a full night’s rest dancing through their minds. Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait until that night to catch up on their rest. Minutes later they were both asleep.


	9. Words

**A/N:** _My fellow tumblr people may recognize this prompt I wrote some time ago, however there has been almost an additional 2k words written, expanding it and giving you a LITTLE more DiLaurentis-Fields fam. Enjoy. This one is PG for…words, and shenanigans. And FYI, I haven’t forgotten about the prompts I’ve been given. I’m just juggling a lot right now. And I suck at juggling._

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 ** Prompt: ** **Hey! I was wondering if you could write a prompt were Sam is about to talk and Emily, Alison, Lily, and Grace are fighting about which is going to be his first word and they all make bets or something and then his first word is something silly?**

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**_ Words _ **

Dinner time at the DiLaurentis-Fields house was often a chaotic scene. Two teenagers snarking at one another while a handsy baby threw everything he could get his grubby little fingers on, including food. The twins thought it was hilarious, so they often encouraged him by making a game out of it with their own food.

Emily and Alison had made an Olympic Sport out of catching dinner rolls and flying chicken breasts mid-air. It was all fun and games until someone got slapped in the eye with a steaming hot piece of enchilada. They always yelled at the girls to knock it off, but their little brother’s giggles only encouraged them to entertain him at dinner.

Sam’s assaults weren’t any easier on them. The youngest member of their family didn’t eat a lot of solid food yet, but Emily and Alison had ventured into letting him try little things here and there. Emily had been slapped once by a large linguine noodle that Sam was using as a whip. Alison had been the victim of a drive-by lemon squeezing when Sam tried the citrus for the first time. And they had both ended up with smashed peas in their hair and green beans in their cleavage when they tried to introduce him to vegetables.

Trying to get their kids to eat healthy was difficult, especially for Grace and Sam. Lily didn’t mind eating her greens. Grace, on the other hand, slid her broccoli under the table and gave it to the dog.

Grace glanced around the table and saw that her mothers were both occupied trying to keep Sam from grabbing a huge pile of spaghetti and marinara from the bowl near his high chair. Lily was looking at her phone. She stabbed a large piece of broccoli with her fork and slipped it to her trusty vegetable eater, their Pit-Bull, Labrador Retriever mix, Buster, who would ingest _anything_. He was their vacuum cleaner. He quickly gobbled up the broccoli.

“Grace, I saw that.” Emily pointed her fork accusingly at her daughter with one hand while wiping Sam’s messy fingers off with a napkin with her other hand. “You’re not leaving this table until you eat something green.”

“But that’s not fair. There are tomatoes in the spaghetti sauce. That counts!”

“Tomatoes are a fruit.” Lily gave her a smarmy look from across the table.

“I should have eaten you in the womb.” Grace narrowed her eyes at her sister and threw the last bite of her bread at her face.

Alison caught it mid-air and then put it down.

“Grace, greens, now.” Alison ordered.

“Fine.” She frowned, relenting to the terror of having something _green_.

She glanced at the counter, looking for the last of the broccoli. What she found was something better. She reached back behind her chair where they had the candy dish. She grabbed a handful of jellybeans. Two of them were green. She waited until both of her mothers were watching and then grinned smugly at them.

“You didn’t say what _kind_ of green food I had to eat.” She tossed the jellybeans into her mouth.

Sam started bouncing in his high chair, because he saw Grace eating something new and he wanted it. He started whimpering.

“Processed sugar does _not_ count as a vegetable, child.” Emily rolled her eyes. She scooped up two pieces of broccoli and put them on Grace’s plate.

Lily locked her eyes on Grace’s eyes and grinned as she picked up her plate.

“I’d _love_ some more broccoli, Mom.”

Grace stared back at her with a heated gaze that clearly stated, _“You little shit.”_

“Suck up.” She muttered under her breath.

Sam babbled throughout the rest of dinner like he always did. It wasn’t until Grace had choked down the last of her vegetables and they were starting to get cleaned up that he called for his mothers’ and sisters’ attention.

Emily and Alison were getting ready to clear the table and Grace and Lily were getting ready to run off and disappear into their rooms when Sam loudly shouted,

“BUH!”

He’d said it with a clear precision and a dialect they’d never heard before, like he was trying to form a word. It was exciting. He’d made noises and chattered to himself for a while now. But mostly he’d just babbled a bunch of baby nonsense. This time he was trying to actually address them and tell them what he wanted.

“What is it, Sammy?” Emily sat down next to his high chair.

He reached his sticky hand out and pat Emily’s wrist, leaving a lump of mashed potatoes on her skin. Then he pointed at Alison and opened his mouth like he was getting ready to say something.

“Oh, I think he’s going to do it!” Lily exclaimed. They waited for the inevitable “mama” to come out of his mouth.

But instead he stared at Alison and smacked his lips together.

“Can you say ‘mama’?” Alison asked.

“Say ‘French Fry’.” Grace encouraged him.

“Ohhh, or how about ‘onomatopoeia’.” Lily rubbed his toes.

“That’s not a real word.” Grace scoffed. “You just made that up.”

“Just because _you_ don’t know it doesn’t mean it’s not a real word.”

“Use it in a sentence.” Grace challenged.

“Grace’s intellectual skills are so low that she doesn’t know what the word onomatopoeia means.”

Grace made a face at her and flicked her in the arm. Lily stuck her tongue out at her.

“How is it that a baby is more mature than two teenagers?” Emily chuckled.

“You’re a real riot, mom.” Grace rolled her eyes. “You should try your hand at stand-up comedy.” Her tone was laced with sarcasm.

“I’m already living in a nutball sitcom.” Emily pushed back.

“Buh…”

“What is it, buddy?” Lily asked.

He threw his hand out and started wiggling his finger frantically.

“Buh…”

“Buster?” Lily asked, looking at their rescue dog. He was patiently waiting for some food to fall off of the table and on to the floor, or for Grace to slip him more scraps under the table.

“Buh.” Sam shook his head and furrowed his little eyebrows and puffed his cheeks out.

“Bunny?” Grace walked over and picked up a little stuffed bunny out of his pack-n-play.

She handed the bunny to him, but he threw it across the room and started smacking his palms against the tray of his high chair.

“Buh!” He shouted, his cheeks starting to get red in frustration. He was still pointing at Alison furiously.

“Think he’s trying to call me a bitch?” Alison questioned curiously. He’d probably heard plenty of people say that to her.

“Oh, swear jar!” Grace pointed at her mother enthusiastically.

She motioned to a jar across the room filled with coins and a few crumpled bills. Ones, fives, and a ten from when Alison had lost her shit in traffic a few weeks ago. Grace had been grinning in the backseat keeping count of the ‘fucks’ and the ‘dickheads’ she was slinging that day. Grace had ticked off each and every word like a warped version of car bingo.

Alison hadn’t said a word when they’d gotten home. She’d just walked over to the jar and pulled out a few ones from her purse and shoved them angrily into the jar. Grace had stood behind her with her word count smiling at her,

_“Not even close, mom. Pay up.”_

So Alison had stuck the ten in there, too.

There was only one other ten in the jar from when Emily had lost track of Sam and had to contend with a kitchen fire in the same day. It had all happened within minutes. She’d put Sam down on his blanket with some of his toys and ran to grab the laundry. By the time she got back, Sam was nowhere in sight and Grace was screeching from the kitchen.

Emily had run in and found the microwave on fire. Grace had been trying to reheat some mac and cheese…covering it with aluminum foil. Lily had been screaming at her that you couldn’t put aluminum foil in the microwave to which Grace had very snottily replied,

_“I know that NOW!”_

A lot of cuss words had come out of Emily’s mouth that day, because her son had crawled off to God knows where and the house was on fire. Lily had run off to find the baby, who she found sitting behind the steps playing with sock he’d found while Grace and Emily battled the fire. No one was hurt, but the swear jar got a hefty deposit that day.

The swear jar had been Emily’s idea. They were trying to teach the girls that every word they said mattered, and also keep their son from stringing a bunch of cuss words together before he was one. It worked sometimes. Alison hated it with a vengeance, because of the two of them she was the one who had the worst temper. And the worse the word was, the higher the fine.

“ _Bitch_ doesn’t count.” Alison frowned. “It is an anatomical word for an intact female dog. It’s a medical term and it’s in the dictionary.” Alison played it off.

“Yeah, but you didn’t use it in the right context. I mean, ‘fuck’ is in the dictionary, too.” Grace smarted back.

“Grace Estella!” Alison glared angrily at her.

Grace just smirked back with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

“She’s right.” Lily shrugged. “It means ‘to fornicate’…”

“We _know_ what it means, Lily.” Alison interrupted her.

She glanced at Emily for back up, but her wife was doubled over in hysterics laughing at their smart-mouthed little brats.

“I’m just saying, are we changing what constitutes the rules of a bad word by whether or not it’s in the dictionary?” Lily asked. “I mean ‘hell’ and ‘ass’ are in the bible.”

“So is ‘damn’.” Grace added.

“Who the hell gave you a bible?” Alison stared at Lily and Grace in surprise.

“Is ‘shit’ in the dictionary?” Grace faced her sister.

“Okay, that’s enough. Knock it off. We have impressionable minds in the room.” Emily tried to keep it together. She snorted through her laughter.

“ _Impressionable minds_?” Lily replied with a sarcastic laugh. “I _know_ you’re not talking about me and Grace. Sorry to burst your bubble, but we’re _you’re_ kids. We were always tainted.”

Grace opened her mouth to say something, but Alison glared at her.

“Grace, I swear to God if you laugh at that you are going to be grounded for a week. You and Lily may be lost causes, but there is still hope for your little brother and I’ll be damned if he is going to end up a little deviant, too.”

Two was enough for her. She couldn’t handle three hellions. She just couldn’t. She looked at Emily, who still had tears in her eyes from laughing so hard. The brunette had a perplexed look on her face, a cheeky expression.

“What?” Alison asked.

“‘Dam as in like…a beaver dam, or…damnation?”

“I hate every single one of you.” Alison walked over to her purse. She pulled a ten out and shoved it in the jar and then walked back over to her family. “There, now I can say as many _damn_ swear words as I want. I’ve pre-paid. And I don’t see anyone else ponying up, so you can all just shut it.”

“Buh…” Sam interrupted their squabble. He was still babbling to himself. His eyes narrowed as if he was trying to comprehend all the words he’d just heard.

He fidgeted around in his chair and frowned, his breaths getting harsher, like he was going to start screaming at any minute.

“BUH!”

“Maybe he’s trying to say ‘butt’.” Grace snickered.

“It’s like you _want_ him to say a cuss word.” Lily looked at her sister.

“It really wouldn’t surprise me if his first word was a swear word. Grace was running around the house screaming ‘shitballs’ when she was one.” Emily shrugged.

“That’s awesome.” Grace snorted.

“Your grandmother didn’t think so. She almost had a coronary.” Emily shook her head with a laugh.

“What was my first cuss word?” Lily asked curiously.

“You said ‘fuck’ when you fell and hit your head on the fireplace when you were thirteen months old. You cried ‘ow’ and then dropped the ‘f’ bomb on us. We couldn’t punish you because you used it in the correct context.” Alison snickered.

“Maybe he’s trying to say ‘bastard’.” Grace looked at her little brother. “I mean, his big sisters _are_ technically bastards…”

“Grace, knock it off. You’re being a bad influence.” Lily shoved her.

“Buuuuh.” Sam said again, drawing it out. The look on his face told them he was getting exhausted trying to communicate with them. He was minutes away from a meltdown.

“Bath?” Lily asked. He did love bathtime. His sisters made it fun for him. Grace blew bubbles and Lily sang to him.

Sam grunted out a bunch of incomprehensible noises that basically sounded like, “you aren’t listening to me!” cries.

“Bean?” Grace continued to guess, pointing to the green beans she’d refused to eat, still untouched on her plate.

“Yes, Grace. The name of a bland vegetable is going to be our brother’s first word.”

“Hey, it _is_ the musical fruit.” Grace grinned.

“Are you _five_?” Lily frowned.

“Buh?” Sam posed it as a question this time, like changing the inflection was going to suddenly make them fluent in ‘baby’.

“Bottle? You want a ba-ba?” Lily asked.

A string of frustrated whines and cries came out of Sam’s mouth. He started huffing.

“Oh, it’s okay, Sammy.” Lily reached out and rubbed his chunky little thighs. “Don’t be upset.”

“Boooo.” He tried again.

“Boo? Are you a ghost, little man?” Grace questioned.

Sam was still staring at his moms. He kept looking back at Alison like she should understand what he wanted.

“Beats your first word.” Lily smirked at Grace.

“I happen to think that ‘chicken nugget’ is a perfectly acceptable first word. Much better than your ‘bird’.”

“Actually, technically your first word was ‘no’, Grace.” Alison corrected her. She added with a mumble, “You haven’t stopped saying it since.”

“Booooooo!” Sam cried again.

He looked at Emily desperately like “help me here, mom!” and then looked at his sisters and mothers like “what is wrong with you people?” He reached out to Alison, stretching his arms, begging to be picked up. When she leaned forward to take him out of the high chair he pat his little palms against her breasts.

“Boooob.”

“Did he just…” Alison glanced down in confusion.

“He did.” Emily burst into laughter. Lily and Grace snorted.

“Are kidding me?” Alison laughed.

“So, you’re a boob man.” Emily squeezed his cheek and laughed.

“Must have gotten that from you,” Alison muttered under her breath, hoping the girls hadn’t heard it.

They had.

“Gross.”

“Ew.”

“Overshare.” Lily frowned.

“Boob,” Sam said again, whining. He clawed at her shirt.

“I think he’s telling me it’s time to nurse.” Alison glanced down at her chest and then looked at her son.

“This is so epic. I’m going to write this in his baby book right now.” Grace stood up and started walking away from the table.

“Boob has two o’s.” Lily followed her.

“I know how to spell, Lily.” Grace rolled her eyes.

“Spell onomatopoeia.”

“Spell ‘Bite Me’.”

“Hey, not so fast, girls!” Alison called after them.

Grace and Lily stopped in their tracks and turned around to face her. She motioned towards the swear jar.

“There’s still the little matter of you _both_ owing some money to the swear jar. I expect your payments by the end of the night.”

“But mom…”

“Nope. Don’t want to hear it. We all play by the rules here.” Alison cut Grace off.

“We’re really making them work for that trip to Disneyworld.” Emily laughed.

“We’re going to Disneyworld?” Lily perked up. “And Epcot?”

“That.” Alison nodded. “Or mommies are getting a new car and taking a trip to Paris and leaving your little heathen asses with your grandmother.”

“Swear j…”

“Already prepaid, remember?” Alison smirked at Grace.

Both of them dragged their feet and muttered in ‘angry teenage’ under their breath. It was a language that both of their mothers were well-versed in.

“God. My mother always said if I had a daughter that she’d be ten times worse than I was. And we have _two_ of them.” Alison uttered.

“Oh, come on. They’re not _that_ bad in comparison.” Emily picked Sam up out of his high chair.

“Yeah, I guess…” Alison paused in thought and a realization hit her, “…hey! Was that a shot at me?”

Emily chuckled.

“Go ahead and take care of the boob-monster. I’ll clean up here.” Emily passed their son over to her waiting arms.

“Boob.” Sam smiled, patting her chest.

“Really, Sam?” Alison sighed. “I thought you were going to be better than your sisters.”

“Boob,” he said again.

“I heard you the first twenty times.”

Alison walked out of the kitchen with Sam in her arms. She got him changed and then sat down in the rocking chair in his nursery. He eagerly latched on to her breast. She watched him nurse.

All of her babies had been so different when they nursed. Lily usually kept her hands against her chest, but didn’t move or squirm much. Grace would latch on, then get distracted by something and then it would take her forever to latch on again. And she bit. She was terrible about biting.

With Sam, he always kneaded her skin, so they made sure to keep his nails short. When she felt his little fingers slowing down and sliding away from her body she knew he was almost asleep. His suckling slowed down.

It was only when she slowed the rocking chair that she realized Emily was in the doorway watching. She had a soft smile on her face.

“I love seeing you with him like this.” Emily admitted. She quietly crept into the room. She loved their family.

Alison smiled.

“Can you take him so I can get situated?” Alison questioned.

Emily reached down and they carefully moved him from Alison’s arms into Emily’s. They had become experts at “pass the baby” without waking him. Alison rolled her shoulder and grabbed a wipe to clean up a little of Sam’s spit up while Emily carried him to his crib. She kissed him on the forehead and then gently laid him down. His mouth was still twitching like he was still sucking on Alison’s breast. Alison walked over and looked down at him.

“He’s precious when he’s asleep.” Alison stood on her tip toes and leaned her chin against Emily’s shoulder.

“He really is.”

Sam squirmed a little and moved his head like he was getting ready to cry.

“Crap, don’t wake up. Don’t wake up.” Alison whispered under her breath, ready to duck down like she was avoiding a firefight in Vietnam.

Getting him down wasn’t always easy. He rolled his head back and let out a content sigh instead of a loud wail. His mothers breathed a sigh of relief.

They tiptoed out of his room.

“So, _boob_ , huh?” Emily chuckled.

“It’s a weird one.” Alison nodded with a laugh.

“Wait until Hanna hears about it.”

“I actually feel kind of honored. He likes my boobs so much that it was his first word.”

“I like your boobs, too.”

“Would you like to play with them?” Alison questioned cheekily.

“Yes, please.” Emily grinned.

Alison grabbed her hand and pulled her towards their bedroom. They ran down the hallway giggling like two school-girls and then disappeared into their room, locking their door behind them.

Emily pushed Alison up against their bedroom door and put one arm up next to her face. She leaned in for a slow sensual kiss. When she pulled away, Alison was smiling at her.

“You are so damn sexy.” Alison bit her lip.

Emily put her forehead against Alison’s and a wicked grin spread across her face. She nibbled against Alison’s lower lip and then pulled away.

“Swear jar.”

“I’m paid up.” Alison could feel a shock of desire shooting down into her belly and drifting lower. The stiffness from nursing Sam had given way to her passion for her wife. “So, let’s do dirty things.”

Emily grinned and lifted her brows. They quickly let their passion escalate. They’d found a balance between making each other feel good _and_ doing it in a timely manner. Because with three kids it wasn’t often they had the chance to be alone.

Alison used up every last cent that she’d deposited into the swear jaw. And by the time they were finished, Emily owed another ten dollars.


	10. Halloween

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**A/N:** _If you’re reading and/or reviewing any of my work I just want to say thank you, you’re amazing, and I love you. I’m continuously in my head about giving up writing altogether, but then I remember you nice people exist and it’s enough to dull the self-hatred. Appreciate that._

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**Prompt: ** **Do you think maybe you can eventually do a prompt where it’s Sam’s first Halloween? And they dress him up in the cutest little outfit and he’s matching with Lily and Grace.**

* * *

  ** _Halloween _ **

There was something eerie in the air. The house was quiet, which was unsettling to Lily, because it wasn’t very often that her moms weren’t chatting about their day or her baby brother wasn’t smacking one of his very noisy musical toys or squalling out weird high pitched baby noises. And the worst offender was her twin sister. Lily was convinced that Grace was part Howler Monkey. She made noises that didn’t sound human. And she had the manners of a primate, too.

Lily took two seconds to appreciate the silence, but then she started to over-think it. She didn’t like it when her sister was quiet. It usually meant she was plotting something. She was deep in thought when a loud bang startled her out of her trance.

“Lily!” Grace rapped loudly at the door.

And there she was. She probably would have just barged in, but Lily had learned to lock her door after her first kiss had nearly been interrupted by her ham of a sibling a few weeks ago.

“Lily, come on! Let’s go! Open up!” Grace pounded on her sister’s door.

“No. I look stupid. I’m not doing this.” Lily grumbled back. She stared at her reflection.

She had never been big on Halloween. She’d outgrown trick-or-treating a few years ago. Grace still loved to go. And her family was really big into dressing up together. Last year they’d gone as characters from _Inside Out_. The year before had been _Game of Thrones._ Her direwolf costume had been hot as hell. And here she was again, stuck in the fluffiest hottest costume of the bunch. It was because she was too nice. And she let everyone else pick first. Next year she was going to suggest _The Little Mermaid_ and then call dibs on Ariel so all she would have to wear would be a seashell bra and a skirt. She’d make Grace wear the stupid crab costume. Sam would make a really cute Flounder. And her moms could rock Triton and Ursula.

“Li-ly!” Grace stretched her name into two syllables for emphasis.

“No. I’m citing irreconcilable differences. You see this as great. I do not.”

“Lilian Piper!”

“Grace Estella!” Lily shot back mockingly.

“Peeease?” She heard a tiny high pitched voice that she’d never been able to turn down.

It was one of the few words Sam knew. Along with ‘boob’, ‘Mama’, ‘no’, ‘sissy’, ‘go bye bye’, and ‘cool, dude’. The last one had been courtesy of Grace. She’d tried to get him to say ‘bitchin’ but her mothers did not approve.

Lily lowered her head and grumbled under her breath. She sighed and walked over to the door, unlocking it and coming face to face with Grace and her baby brother. Grace’s face was painted silver and Sam was in his little puppy costume. He stared at her for half a minute, not recognizing her at first. When she softly smiled at him and said “hey, Sammy” he clapped his hands together in excitement and reached out for her, leaning out of Grace’s arms.

“No fair using the kid against me.” Lily scowled at her sister, who looked equally ridiculous in the bulky Tin Man costume she was wearing.

Sam looked adorable as Toto though. He reached up and touched the Cowardly Lion make-up on Lily’s face, smudging it a little.

“It’s his first Halloween. Don’t you want it to be memorable?” Grace asked.

“He’s a baby. He sucks on his toes and licks people’s noses. He’s not going to remember this.”

“He will with proof.” Grace opened up a tiny compartment in her oversized robot-looking costume and whipped out her phone, quickly snapping a picture of Lily and Sam.

“I hate you.” Lily frowned.

“You look _so_ adorable.” She jokingly reached out and scratched the curly braided mane on top of Lily’s head, jostling the red bow on the top.

Sam squealed and then giggled. He laid his head against Lily’s fuzzy costume and stroked the material with his tiny little hands. He tugged at the bearded mane underneath her chin.

“Here. Take one with me and Sam.” Grace held her phone out to Lily and reached for Sam.

Sam screamed when Grace tried to take him out of Lily’s arms. He tightened his fist into the lion mane and started kicking his feet in protest.

“NO! My sissy!” Sam stuck his lip out and furrowed an angry brow at Grace.

He laid his head back against Lily’s shoulder and brought his thumb up to his mouth. He held Grace’s gaze. She took a step back, a little offended.

“But I thought I was your favorite sister, Sammy.”

Sam just blinked and sucked his thumb. Lily had a smarmy look on his face.

“He likes you better than me.” Grace pouted.

“I don’t dress him up in ridiculous outfits.” Lily shrugged.

“Girls? Are you ready yet?” They heard Alison call out from downstairs.

It was already dusk and they wanted to get out and around the neighborhood before it got dark. They knew they needed to start early because Sam had refused to take his nap earlier, so they knew he would tire out quickly.

“Coming!” Grace called enthusiastically. She bounded down the hallway.

Lily looked down at her brother. His black Toto costume covered his entire body. She pulled the hood up over his head, fiddling until she got it so the ears were straight on the top of his head.

“I’m only doing this because I love you, Sammy,” Lily said. She shifted him on her hip and leaned towards his face. “Can I have a kiss for courage?” she puckered her lips.

Sam knew what that meant. He pushed his lips out and gave her a sticky baby kiss on her jaw. At the very end of it, he opened his mouth and his tongue fell out like a dog’s tongue and he smiled, drooling all over her chin. Lily chuckled and wiped the drool away and then went to meet her family in the living room.

“There’s my little Toto.” Emily smiled when she saw Lily walking in with Sam.

Emily’s long hair was split evenly into two ponytails tied off with two little blue bows, matching the checkered blue dress she was wearing. The outfit was tied together with sparkly red shoes and a wicker basket.

Initially, Emily had suggested Alison be Dorothy, but Alison thought it would be easier for Emily to just throw her hair in pigtails. She planned to go with the blondeness of her hair to be the most fabulous Scarecrow anyone had ever seen.

“Do we really have to do this?” Lily mumbled as she handed a squirming Sam over to Emily. “This costume is really hot and itchy.”

“Ma-ma.” Sam cooed softly, smiling at Emily.

She kissed him on the forehead and then faced Lily.

“Lily, we all have to suffer a little. You think I want to walk around all night wearing these clunky heels? At least it’s nice outside so you’ll cool down. My feet have to suffer the whole time. Your sister and your mother really want this, Lily. So let’s just keep the complaining to a minimum, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You look so cute.” Emily ruffled the top of the mane on her head.

“Now you’re just punishing me.” Lily laughed.

Grace and Alison walked into the room. Grace had put the pointy Tin Man hat on her head and she had an oil can in her hand to complete her ensemble.

Alison had a pointed dark green hat on her head, her blonde hair flowing out in several directions. She’d done her best to make it look somewhat like straw.

She was wearing a long-sleeved green top that had yellow trimming around the collar. She had on a burlap colored brown skirt tied off with a roped belt. Her legs were covered with pale yellow ripped pantyhose running down into a pair of long tan boots that had light yellow tassels on them.

Emily smiled at her. Her wife was the sexiest Scarecrow that she’d ever seen. She couldn’t wait until after the kids went to bed. Suddenly, she wasn’t thinking about how much her feet were going to be hurting anymore. She was imagining kicking her shoes off in their bedroom at the end of the night.

“Are we ready to go?” Alison questioned.

“Oh, we forgot one thing.” Grace scurried off into the kitchen.

A few seconds later she came back in with their dog Buster on his leash. He had on a light blue vest with spiky flames and gray wings sticking out the back. The wings matched his bluish-gray medium-length fur. There was a light blue hat with flames that matched the vest tied around his head, which was probably going to be pawed off the second they walked out the door.

“I still think Grace should have been the evil monkey.” Lily suggested.

“Just you wait until next year when we do _The Three Little Pigs_.” Grace grinned.

“I will huff and I will puff and I will throw a shoe at your face.”

“Girls.” Emily tried to mediate. “The night is young. Please save your squabbling for when your brother is screaming his head off and the dog has plopped down in the middle of the sidewalk and refuses to move until we take the hat off of his head and the neighbors are all staring at us and judging us. You know, normal family stuff.”

Alison walked over to Emily.

“You look hot,” she said.

“You too, babe.” Emily replied.

“Ew, gross. Don’t traumatize Sam with your mushy stuff.” Grace shook her head with a frown.

The girls were at an age where love and affection was “icky”, which was fine by their moms because it meant they weren’t serious about dating yet, which meant they weren’t swapping spit with anyone yet. At least not that they knew about. Lily still hadn’t told anyone about her crush and her first kiss. Not even Grace. Because Grace had the biggest mouth in the world.

As if on cue, Grace started loudly singing _“If I only had a heart”._

“Are you ready for your first time trick-or-treating, baby boy?” Alison reached out and pinched Sam’s cheeks, careful not to smudge the little black blob that had been drawn on his nose as the end of his doggy snout.

His mouth fell open into a stupid grin and he bounced in Emily’s arms.

“Mama mama!” He exclaimed in excitement. “Go bye bye?” He asked.

“Alright Dorothy, lead the way.” Alison smiled at Emily.

“Oh, forget _The Three Little Pigs._ Next year we should do _Golden Girls_!” Grace’s face lit up.

“I call Blanche.” Lily quickly blurted out. She would have to wear less clothes that way.

“I want to be Sophia.” Grace didn’t argue.

“Why? So you can be a bitch?”

“Lily.” Emily warned her about her language.

“No, so I can call you a slut.” Grace shoved Lily and then raced out the door with the dog before her mothers could discipline her.

“How dare you! _I_ am a lady!” She channeled her best southern accent. “Flirting is just part of my heritage.”

She ran out after Grace.

“I challenge you to a duel, my good lady!” They heard Grace say outside.

Alison and Emily peered out the door just in time to see Lily pull one of her lion gloves off and smack Grace in the face with it.

“What the hell, Lily?” Grace frowned.

“It’s not a duel without the glove slap.” Lily shrugged and put the glove back on. “I may be dressed as the cowardly lion, but I’m anything but scared, especially of you.”

“Bring it, _Simba_.”

“Like I’m afraid of you, you glorified slinky?” Lily swatted playfully at the tin hat on Grace’s head.

“This is going to be a fun night.” Emily laughed sarcastically.

“ _Golden Girls_ isn’t a _terrible_ idea for next year.” Alison closed the door as they walked out. “We could even get Sam a little suit and tie and briefcase and he’ll be the cutest little Stanley Zbornak ever.”

“Let’s survive this year first.” Emily chuckled.

They took the kids around the block. Then they ventured a little out of the neighborhood. Sam was good for the most part. He got a little fussy when he saw something that scared him, but his sisters were always right there to assure him he was okay.

They ran into Caleb and Hanna on their way back to their neighborhood. The Rivers family had chosen a musical movie theme, too. They were Sandy and Danny from _Grease_. Their daughter Cami had wanted to be Frenchie because she wanted to wear the frilly pink cotton candy wig, so Caleb and Hanna had gone along with it.

“You are the cutest little Toto I’ve ever seen.” Hanna gushed, playing with Sam’s hands. He giggled.

“Hey, Cami.” Lily waved.

“Hey, Lily.”

“Your hair looks like an Easter egg.” Grace grinned.

“You look like a can opener.” Cami shot back with a smile.

“Give me that little puppy.” Hanna motioned for Emily to hand the baby over.

A few seconds later Hanna was the one carrying Sam. It was comical to see the clashing of the two movies. Sandy from _Grease_ carrying around Toto from _The Wizard of Oz_.

“Wanna hit the Montgomery House? Finn says his grandparents are handing out full-sized candy bars.” Grace suggested.

“Uh, yeah. Duh.” Cami nodded.

Caleb and Hanna walked with Alison and Emily for a while. The girls ran ahead while the adults lingered behind. After a while, Caleb and Hanna had to run. Cami had a Halloween party she was going to.

Shortly after their friends left, the DiLaurentis-Fields family were about ready to call it quits. Sam was starting to get increasingly whiny. And the dog was stopping every two seconds to scratch at the costume on his back.

“Girls, are you almost finished?” Emily asked.

“I was finished the second I put on this costume.” Lily admitted.

“Don’t be surly.” Alison scolded her. “Here, take your brother.” She handed Sam over to Lily. “Why don’t you go ahead and go home? Grace, you too.”

“Huh?” Grace turned around to face them. She’d been too preoccupied shoving chocolate in her mouth to hear her mother.

“Come on, Willy Wonka, we’re going home.” Lily laughed.

They started walking ahead.

“You know, Willy Wonka wasn’t the one who ate the chocolate. He just made it.” Grace corrected her sister.

There was a pause, then a “shut up, Grace” before they turned the corner.

“Man, the attitude on that child.” Alison shook her head in disbelief.

“Where do you think she got it from?” Emily teased her, wrapping her arm around Alison and pulling her close.

Alison turned into her wife’s body so they were facing.

“You ready to call it a night?” Alison questioned, her hand running down from the small of Emily’s back to her toned ass.

Emily leaned forward and kissed her.

“There’s no place like home.” Emily grinned against her lips.

When they got home they found Lily sitting on the couch with Sam. He had conked out on the walk back to the house. He was sleeping soundly against his sister’s shoulder. Grace was sitting next to her singing “Over the Rainbow” softly to him while rubbing his back.

“Home sweet home.” Alison smiled, looking at their children.

They stood there watching their little girls with their son. They turned to one another and smiled. Most days their lives were chaotic and exhausting, but it was all worth it for moments like this. The dreams that they had dared to dream really had come true.


End file.
